Earth's Protectors IV: Blast to the Past
by nld200xy
Summary: Two dangerous villains, Dialga and Palkia, have gone to the past to a time when the heroes of the world would not be strong enough to oppose them with the soul intent of wiping out the entire hero population. Thus Shaymin creates a time machine and gathers the heroes of Edmonton to follow them and stop them. Can they pull it off?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: To start things off, as always, I do not own the Pokemon franchise nor any of the creatures associated with it. And as the title would suggest, this is part of an on-going series of stories that I've spent years on. You don't have to read most of the others to understand this one, though it might be a good idea to read the first Earth's Protectors IV as this is a direct continuation of that one. This series is also heavily inspired by Kinnikuman with certain Pokemon designs being altered to fit the general theme.

It was hard to believe that three years had passed since young Vaporeon had graduated from Hero School and arrived on Earth at the ripe young age of fifteen. And while she won her first match with flying colours, she still needed help, and that help came in the form of three former villains, Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile. And she certainly needed their help as they wound up being much better heroes than she was.

It was not long until she had Morgrem and Rolycoly to help her as well. And on top of that, she also had her human friends, Allie, Geneva and Bailey. Needless to say, while being a hero was hard, it was a good life.

However, today was not such a good day as Vaporeon had found herself in a very similar situation to when she first met her allies. Specifically, she was in Commonwealth Stadium where she was face-to-face with a black and sky-blue dragon with a head that resembled a stealth bomber named Dragapult.

Her friends sat in the front row and cheered for her while she leapt onto the top rope and bounced off of it. She then formed a sphere of ice on the tip of her tail and flipped vertically toward the dragon, shouting, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

Dragapult's eyes widened when he took the sphere to his skull, Scorbunny squealing, "Way to go, Vaporeon! Let him have it!" the fox bouncing off of the part she had hit and landing behind the dragon.

"And Vaporeon shows us why she was the one Hero Planet graduate to defend Edmonton!" the announcer, Tori exclaimed, "With her Bouncing Ice Ball, she has truly put Dragapult on ice!" before sighing, "Did I really just say that?" rubbing her temple and shaking her head.

Vaporeon turned to face her opponent again only to notice that he barely seemed to feel any pain from the strike dealt to him. And it was made clear why when he turned to her, smirked and stated, "You fool. My head is the strongest part of my body. That move of yours barely did a thing to me."

Before the fox could even respond, Dragapult backed up into the ropes, stretched them back and launched himself off. He then rammed his face into her gut before she had a chance to retaliate and shouted, "STEALTH BLADE!"

Vaporeon coughed up blood as not only did this deal great pain but it also put a large gash in her midsection. Thus he pushed her up against the ropes, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth.

All of her friends stared in horror while she lay limp against the ropes, Tori staring silently for half a minute while Dragapult folded his arms with a smirk. And once the time was up, the woman rang the bell and stated, "And after a long and intense match, Vaporeon has lost and Dragapult is our winner!"

"VAPOREON!" Drizzile spat before Rillaboom grunted, "Dammit! Let me in there! I'll make him pay!"

"I'm more than up to the task!" Morgrem exclaimed with a smirk, "He'll regret ever setting foot in Edmonton!" Rolycoly adding, "Yeah, I don't doubt that for a second."

Dragapult wiped a bit of sweat off of his forehead and said, "I gotta say, that was disappointing. I'd hate to take over Edmonton after such an easy win," thus he turned to the other heroes in the crowd and added, "Alright, I'll gladly take on one more of you. In fact, I think I'll challenge you!"

Everyone stared when he directed his pointing finger toward Scorbunny. After a few seconds, the rabbit smirked and remarked, "Big mistake," leaping high into the air and landing in front of the bleachers. She agreed to face Dragapult in an hour since he had just finished a match. After all, she was confident that she could defeat him even if he was able to recover to full strength.

Once the hour was up, the match began. For the next ten minutes, it was very back and forth with Scorbunny dishing out all sorts of powerful kicks while Dragapult put various cuts on her and whacked her multiple times with his long tail.

Soon enough, both were covered in bruises as the rabbit breathed heavily, Dragapult grunting, "I see your reputation precedes you," before Scorbunny huffed, "You're not so bad yourself, but just so you know, I've faced worse."

"We'll see about that," the dragon remarked before he pressed his back up against the ropes and bounced off with his face pointed toward Scorbunny. Luckily, the rabbit was more than prepared for this, thus she leapt over him, lit her feet on fire and squeaked, "SCORCHING ANVIL!"

The crowd cheered wildly when she descended quickly and planted her heels into Dragapult's back. With that, he coughed up a great deal of blood before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell hard on his belly. Her friends all had the biggest grins on their faces before they cheered even louder than the rest of the crowd.

Tori waited for a while before she nodded and rang the bell, stating, "And after a very intense match, Scorbunny has saved Edmonton!" Vaporeon having regained consciousness just in time to hear this.

The rabbit rose her arms in triumph before she noticed this and smiled sweetly. Vaporeon was unsure how to respond to this for the first little while, but it did not take long for her to form a smile of her own. After all, Edmonton's citizens were safe and that was all that mattered.

And so, Dragapult was soon handcuffed and stuffed into the back of a police ship from Hero Planet while the group exited the stadium. Allie smiled and said, "Well, I think this calls for a celebration."

Drizzile nodded and sighed, "Yeah. I have to admit, I was on the edge of my seat there. But I knew you'd pull through," as he turned to face Scorbunny who grinned with pride.

Vaporeon, who was currently draped over the rabbit's shoulder, smiled but said nothing while Bailey suggested, "Hey, how about we try out that new restaurant that opened up! What was it called? Happy Garden?"

"That sounds like a plan to me," Allie replied before pulling out her wallet with a wide grin and squealing, "It feels so good to be able to use my own money for this!"

Rillaboom sighed, "Yeah, I hear that, but seriously, let us pay for our own food this time. It's been almost three whole years now. You don't need to spoil us anymore," Morgrem nodding and replying, "Seriously, we have our own money that we've earned through years of heroism."

Rolycoly poked his fingers together and uttered, "Not to mention I make a little extra from art commissions," Geneva nodding with a grin and adding, "And one day, we'll both make even more when we publish our own novel together, eh, sweetie?" She then kissed the golem on the cheek before he blushed and bit his lower lip.

He still could not believe that a year and a half ago, Geneva had asked him out on a date. He felt like the luckiest lump of coal in the world, especially since while the others had suggested that he pursue a career in art, she was the one who truly motivated him to go through with it. And while he was not exactly a professional, he had made a fairly good amount of money from taking a commission or two each month.

"Trust us," Drizzile replied, "We appreciate everything you've done for us over the years, but seriously, you don't have to do that. Besides, we're getting married in a few months. The least we can do is get used to splitting the bill, right?"

"Well, if you insist," Allie sighed, "I just figure since we're celebrating you guys, it would be wrong to make you pay," Scorbunny giggling, "That's sweet of you, but seriously, they're right. You and your family always pay when we eat out. I think it's high time we pay for our own food for a change."

Drizzile nodded and rested a hand on Allie's shoulder with a sweet smile. Thus she caved in and agreed to their terms. After all, while she did have a job now, it was as a grocery clerk, meaning she did not exactly make a fortune. On top of that, she also planned to move out of her parents' house within the next couple of years and would certainly need to save up a lot for that.

And so, the group headed off while Vaporeon had a look of shame on her face. Though she did her best to hide it, deep down, this loss had gotten to her, even more so than any she had suffered in the past. But she felt now was not the best time to bring it up.

During this time, a pair of strangers were currently wandering around on Hero Planet. Both were dressed in cloaks, but what they had planned was anyone's guess. Whatever it was, it had something to do with a large government building called the Tower of Justice.

"So this is where it is, right?" a female asked before a male simply nodded with a look of anger in his eyes.

The duo looked at the front gate and noticed two guards on duty. When she saw this, the female folded her arms and said, "It's like they're not even trying. I can take them both easily," only for the male to shake his head and pound his fist against his palm.

The female let out a sigh and said, "Fine. I guess it's only fair that you get a little bit of the spotlight," before racing toward the guards with her arms out.

Both of them gasped and got ready to fight only for the attacker to pick up the pace and ram her arms into their necks. Despite this being a rather basic move, it dealt considerable pain to both of them, allowing the male to easily leap over the female's head and plant a foot into each one's face.

This was enough to knock them both out as the female sighed, "Like I said, I could have beaten them easily on my own," before glaring up at a window and growling, "If only I could fly right now. Then we wouldn't have to waste our time on these weaklings."

Either way, she noticed the door had a combination lock, thus she frowned and sighed, "Well, this isn't quite as powerful as it should be, but I might be able to pull this off."

She lowered her sleeves to reveal light-purple hands with claws for fingers. However, they soon became a slightly darker shade of purple and a pink energy surrounded her claws before she growled, "SPACIAL REND!" swinging them downward in an X formation.

This caused ten large gashes to form on the door before the entire structure collapsed. The male glared at her and growled only for her to sigh, "Look, even in our current state, it's not like they can stop us."

Sure enough, when the alarm went off and multiple guards raced into the area, both strangers managed to fight them off fairly well. The female body checked a few before grabbing a couple by their heads and banging them together.

All the while, the male rammed his shoulders into quite a few and sent a roundhouse into another's midsection. Though after a while, he started to feel a touch overwhelmed. Thus he revealed a set of silver claws under his sleeves and proceeded to deliver multiple slashes into them. And while this wounded most of them, it managed to kill quite a few.

One guard trembled and pulled out a transponder only for the male to leap toward her and ram his elbows into her skull. The female did the same to another guard who attempted it, and soon enough, all of the ones guarding the floor had been dealt with. As such, the female took a deep breath and sighed, "Okay, I see your point. We'll try to avoid further combat."

And so, the duo carried on throughout the building before they found a set of stairs leading to the basement. The male nodded at the female who used her claws to slice open the door since it was also password protected. Both went down many flights of stairs before reaching the bottom floor, specifically basement number twenty.

"Wow, they really didn't want us to find this, did they?" the female enquired before the male nodded and advanced forward cautiously. He looked around and growled before the female sighed, "Let me guess, this room is covered in security beams, isn't it?"

The male nodded as she sighed, "Best you take this alone. I'll stand watch here just to make sure no one shows up to ruin everything," the male manoeuvring around the area expertly. As it so happened, his eyes could detect anything that was invisible, so this was no challenge for him.

Sure enough, once he was finished, he was face-to-face with a big safe. Inside was the very thing he and his partner were looking for, he could feel it. As such, he took a deep breath since he realized he could not rely on the female to claw it open like she had the doors. And he was not sure if even his own claws would be enough since he just knew this safe must have been made from the strongest metal in the galaxy.

With that in mind, he examined the buttons on the combination before he spotted fingerprints on ten in particular. Thus he tapped them in descending order. This failed to open the safe, thus he kept pressing them in a different order until he found one that worked, the safe opening up as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside were two objects. One was a blue orb with a silver coating and the other was what appeared to be a pair of light-purple wings. He removed both from the safe and held up the orb in front of his face. He then opened his mouth and slipped the object into it before swallowing it whole and taking in a deep breath.

"Finally, my voice is restored," he said as the female exclaimed, "That's awesome! Now hand me my wings!" the male sighing, "Impatient as always."

Thus he manoeuvred around the invisible beams again before he reached her and handed over the objects in question. He then nodded and said, "Alright, let's go. Now that we got back what's ours, we can finally initiate our plan."

But just as they had left the building, the female's eyes widened when she saw a whole group of security officers lined up outside and ready to fight. Among them was the hedgehog, Shaymin at the front who scowled and grunted, "I had a feeling something was up when I received no report regarding whether you'd been captured or not! Now, hand over what you've stolen!"

"Stolen!?" the female retorted with her teeth gritted, "Your government stole this stuff from us!" the male sighing, "Nice job. You just revealed who we are," only for the female to face him and utter, "Were we not supposed to do that?"

Shaymin's eyes widened as she pointed and spat, "Hold on! What exactly did you take!?" looking them over, "And where the hell are you hiding those things, anyway!?" only for a guard to reply, "You know they're both dressed in cloaks, right?"

The hedgehog laughed nervously only for the male to state, "Don't feel ashamed. Your question is quite valid. Yes, while we could have easily hid them under our cloaks, we simply returned them to their rightful homes. Now the voice that you extracted from me is back inside me."

The female nodded and added, "And the wings you took from me are back on my shoulders. Why don't you take a look?" removing her cloak along with her partner.

She was a light-purple dragon with darker stripes and markings around her body along with grey underarms and a matching waist. She had round plates on her shoulders with a pink pearl encrusted in the middle of each. Her hands had extended formations that looked like gauntlets with a purple band around each wrist. She had a long neck, a pointed white crest atop her head that extended to her wings, two horn-like tusks and a tail that curved upward.

The male was a dark-blue dragon with silver metallic claws that protruded out of his wrists and went far enough to double as fingers. He had a matching chest plate with a blue diamond in the centre and various light-blue stripes along his body. He had a fin-like structure on his back and a crest on his head similar to that of a pterodactyl. He had two horns atop his head that extended backward and three spines on the back of his neck.

Shaymin shook her head and uttered, "Oh my god, how can this be?" the blue dragon retorting, "Let me guess. You thought we were really dead, didn't you?"

"Do you know who these two are?" one guard whispered as Shaymin growled, "Yeah. I never met them in person, but I've heard the stories about them, Dialga and Palkia," referring to the blue dragon first and the purple one second.

This brought the dragons back to that fateful day ten years ago when they first arrived on Hero Planet, Dialga explaining, "Oh yes, that's right. We came from a future where evil had been mostly vanquished. We were the only ones left. But luckily for me, I had a special power, one passed down through the many generations of my family. My father forbade me from ever using it, not realizing that I wouldn't just blindly follow in his footsteps and be a peacekeeper. After all, mankind really isn't worth protecting."

He remembered the day he convinced Palkia to join him and unleashed his great power. What he did was release a loud roar known as the Roar of Time. This allowed him to open up a rift in the time space continuum, and he chose to use it to go back in time when he figured the heroes of the world would be too weak to stand up to him and his new ally.

Unfortunately, when he challenged Hero Planet's government, figuring them to be the greatest threat, he found himself overwhelmed when he and Palkia were challenged by Buzzwole and a jellyfish with a human body inside of her named Nihilego respectively.

Dialga put up the best fight he could but was ultimately pinned down before the mosquito jabbed his proboscis into his neck and started to consume his blood. While he did so, he managed to remove the very essence that allowed Dialga to use his Roar of Time before eventually sucking up what seemed to be all of his blood. After all, his body had become a wrinkled mess and he had passed out.

Palkia was defeated by a suplex from Nihilego, one so strong that it caused her head to crack open. Though for some reason, the collission also caused her wings to fly right off of her as if they were prosthetic.

When no heartbeat was heard from either of them, they were presumed dead. Nihilego felt a twinge a guilt since she was on the side of good now, though Buzzwole figured this might be for the best.

But things got complicated when the essence inside of Buzzwole caused him to feel weak. As such, it was quickly extracted from him and placed away for safe keeping along with Palkia's wings. After all, one could only guess what one could do with such power.

But of course, both dragons had not died. After they were buried under Hero Planet's soil, they awoke and dug themselves up. Palkia panicked when she noticed her wings were gone, Dialga patting her reassuringly on the shoulder. But when he attempted to unleash his Roar of Time and return to their time line, he noticed that he was unable to use it. And when he tried to speak, nothing came out. That was when he realized the essence that gave him his power was gone.

Back in present time, Dialga grunted, "I'll give you this. You were smart to lock my voice away. After all, it can't be destroyed. But it actually didn't take us long to realize you might have it. After all, I can sense these sorts of things. However, I figured it would be best to build up our strength before attempting to get back what you stole from us."

"We've spent the last ten years preparing for our revenge!" Palkia quipped, "And now that we have the Roar of Time back, we're gonna go back to another time, one where we know that no one will be able to oppose us!"

All went silent while Shaymin and the guards stared at her. Dialga narrowed his eyelids, glared at Palkia and growled, "Do you know how to keep your mouth shut?"

"So that's what that was?" the hedgehog uttered, a frown on her face as she growled, "Well, you're not going anywhere!"

She then lengthened her ears and slimmed down her body until she looked more like a deer. After that, she soared toward them and built up a gust of wind behind her, squeaking, "SKY CLOTHESLINE!"

Both dragons gasped when she rammed her ears into their necks, but while this caused some pain, her eyes widened when she found herself unable to fly further. As such, both dragons smirked and lifted their arms, each taking hold of an ear. They then lifted her up and held out their knees, ramming her gut into both of them.

Just from this one hit, the hedgehog coughed up blood with her eyes wide with terror. And it did not end there as Palkia tossed her into the air, exclaiming, "Come on, bro, show them your best move!"

The blue dragon smirked and replied, "With pleasure," leaping up to her level and planting his claws into her sides. He then leaned backward before falling toward the ground.

Shaymin was unable to do a thing when he slammed the back of her head into the surface. Thus she coughed up more blood while he barked, "METAL DRAGON SUPLEX!"

The hedgehog was out cold while the other guards growled and raced toward the dragons. However, Dialga simply smirked and said, "We've wasted enough time as it is. Come on, Palkia, let's get going. This time, I know for a fact that we didn't make a mistake."

As such, Palkia spread out her wings and took hold of the blue dragon before she flew up to the roof of the tower. With that, Dialga took a deep breath and released a loud roar. This caused a big hole to appear right in front of him before he and the purple dragon leapt into it. Had they done this on ground level, the guards could have potentially followed them, so this really was the best option.

Either way, panic spread through the area as one of them spat, "You heard what that whitish one said earlier, right!? They've gone back in time!" another looking around and whimpering, "Brace yourselves! Something could change at any moment!"

However, after a few seconds, the guards all stood awkwardly and realized nothing had been altered yet. Perhaps it was too early for such changes to occur. After all, Dialga and Palkia had only just gone to the past.

With that in mind, all they could do was carry Shaymin to the medical bay to have her healed. But one thing was for certain. They would definitely take action as soon as possible. Something like this could not be overlooked.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been over a week since Dialga and Palkia stormed the Tower of Justice. Shaymin had recovered not too long after her beating, but even so, she refused to rest after she heard the dragons had travelled through time. While she was uncertain if she could actually find them, Palkia had revealed how their entire plan was to wipe out all heroes during a time when powerful fighters like the Ultra Beasts would never dream of fighting for the side of good. There was no way the hedgehog could just sit back and ignore this, even if her efforts were meaningless.

Although in the end, her contribution went as far as simply sitting around in the lab and watching the scientists at work. After all, while she may have known how to run a government, she had no clue how to open up a wormhole.

A cross between a rabbit and a ram named Indeedee was currently hard at work along with many others when Shaymin approached her from behind and asked, "So, how's it coming along?" the bunny ram sighing, "Oh my god, how many more times are you going to ask that!? We're doing the best we can! Building a time machine and figuring out where they went isn't exactly easy!"

The hedgehog whimpered, "I'm sorry. I'm just so on edge," only for Indeedee to turn, give her a light smile and reply, "Look, it's okay. Honestly, I'm just happy to see you show this much concern. Up until now, I've always thought of you are some sort of psychopath who bribed her way into this position."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Shaymin remarked when suddenly, another bunny ram named Iessan gasped, "I think I've found a solution! But it will require a rare mineral called Jikan! It's located on an unnamed planet located between Jupiter and Saturn. We'd need someone with great resolve to-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Shaymin sighed, "I'll take the fastest vessel we've got," Iessan staring wide-eyed and gasping, "Hold on! Look, much like Indeedee here, I greatly appreciate how much you're willing to help, but we can't send you out! What if you die in space!? A trip to Earth is one thing, but a trip beyond Jupiter?"

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" the hedgehog remarked, "That's, like, two planets I have to pass," the male bunny ram about to retort only to blink and shrug his shoulders. As much as it pained him to admit it, he had no argument.

And so, Shaymin entered a vessel that was just big enough for a few people. And while she had assured them they would not need this, the scientists implored her to take a team with her to guarantee her safety. After all, she had been horribly wounded by Dialga and Palkia, so this seemed necessary.

Indeedee made sure to give her a picture of what the mineral looked like. And she could not help but feel a tad ashamed of herself when Shaymin immediately noticed that it looked like an egg timer, something no one else had spotted.

Shortly after she took off with her small team, she blinked and uttered, "Oh, I get it now. Jikan's Japanese for time!" giggling, "Maybe we should name the planet after the mineral," the others staring at her before one uttered, "Wow, that's actually a good idea."

Sure enough, it had not been easy to obtain Jikan. Not only was it surprisingly rare, which made Shaymin rethink naming the planet after it, but all of it had already been collected by the planet's king, a purple dragon with an abdomen similar to that of a hornet named Naganadel. And despite the hedgehog having explained how they needed it to save the entire hero population from extinction, the dragon refused to hand any Jikan over to her unless a member of her team defeated him in combat.

In the end, the others were far too frightened, thus Shaymin stepped in to challenge him. It was a long and intense match with the hedgehog taking in many strikes, but in the end, she proved to be a far bigger threat than expected. Not only did she have some impressive skills, but she also felt like she had to make up for her loss to Dialga and Palkia, so she was putting in two hundred percent.

As such, Naganadel ultimately forfeited the match and handed the Jikan over to her. Needless to say, she could not have been more grateful while her team was simply shocked that she had actually pulled this off.

Later, back on Earth, Vaporeon was in the midst of a sparring match with Scorbunny in the back yard while Rillaboom and Bailey watched. Drizzile would have been there as well, but he and Allie were currently out on a date.

Both heroes were trading blows with the rabbit sending a roundhouse forward only for the fox to block it with a swipe of her tail. Both distanced themselves from one-another and took many deep breaths before Vaporeon smirked and stated, "I'll admit, you really are significantly better than the first time we fought. But just you wait. This'll turn out exactly like it did before."

"We'll see about that!" Scorbunny squealed before dashing toward Vaporeon who readied herself to counter.

Rillaboom simply folded her arms and said, "With how seriously they're taking this, you'd swear this wasn't a sparring match," Bailey nodding before she felt her phone vibrate. She then took it out of her pocket and sighed, "Great, I have to work the night shift. Apparently, Kelsey fell down the stairs at home and broke her ankle."

"Ouch," the gorilla uttered only for the tan woman to sigh, "If I know Kelsey, I can guarantee she's faking it. She does this every time she has a night shift, and because she's best friends with the morning supervisor, they never expect her to give them a doctor's note."

Rillaboom blinked and said nothing while Scorbunny slid toward Vaporeon with her foot outstretched. However, the fox was ready for this, thus she leapt over the incoming kick and prepared a counterattack. Unfortunately for her, though, it seemed as if Scorbunny saw this coming when she performed a handstand, launched herself into the air and wrapped her legs around the fox's waist.

She lit her feet on fire and leaned back ninety degrees, Vaporeon's eyes wide with shock when Scorbunny exclaimed, "ASTEROID FRANKENSTEINER!" ramming the fox's skull into the ground.

Normally when Scorbunny used a slam move, it took a great deal of energy out of her, so she very seldom used them. But since this was a sparring match, she saw no need to be extra careful, and since she did not have to flip the full one hundred and eighty degrees like she usually would with this move, it required only half the strength it should have taken to pull off anyway.

Even so, it seemed to have worked as Vaporeon lay on the surface for exactly ten seconds. And while she managed to sit upright after that, she realized it was too late when Rillaboom rose her arm in the air and stated, "And Scorbunny is our winner!"

Bailey clapped with a big open-mouth smile before rising to her feet and sighing, "Sorry to run, guys. I gotta get a lot of extra sleep in," heading into the house so she could exit out the front.

Rillaboom gave a light wave while Scorbunny walked over to Vaporeon and uttered, "Oh, hey, are you okay?" She held out her hand while the fox stared at it blankly. A part of her did not want to accept her kind gesture as she saw it as pity, but she knew better than to assume such a thing about Scorbunny.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and took her hand, allowing the rabbit to help her up. After that, Scorbunny grinned childishly and squealed, "Well, look at that! I actually won!"

Vaporeon forced a light smile and chuckled, "Yeah, you did. But to be fair, I was holding back since, you know, this isn't an official match. I practically let you win."

Scorbunny blinked and nodded, replying, "Yeah, I figured as much. Come on, let's go inside. I feel like making salmon!" Vaporeon's smile now more legit as she sighed, "Well, it is only four, but yeah, salmon sounds nice."

While Rillaboom was glad to see Vaporeon take her loss well, she had detected a slight hint of negativity earlier. Though at the same time, she could not help but wonder if it was worth bringing up. Whatever the case, she figured it hardly mattered since it seemed to leave almost right away.

Meanwhile, Drizzile and Allie were out at a French restaurant for dinner. The chameleon picked up a snail and ate it before asking, "So, what kind of cake do you want?" Allie biting into a stuffed squid before blinking and replying, "Oh, you mean for our wedding. Come on, you know we still have a little over four months to prepare."

"Yeah, I know," Drizzile sighed, "I just want it to be perfect, you know?" He then took hold of Allie's hands and looked deep into her eyes with a slight look of desperation.

Allie stared for a few seconds before breaking out into hysterics and scoffing, "Oh my god, you are just adorable!" pinching his cheek, "Well, alright, if it means so much to you, I'd really like vanilla. And maybe we could decorate it with some marzipan flowers and chocolate frosting."

Her mouth started to drool while she thought about it, thus Drizzile reached over and wiped it off with his napkin and replied, "Well, then, I'll make sure that's what you get," his cheeks bright pink while he sighed, "I still can't believe it. I mean, seriously, up until almost three years ago, I was such an outcast, and here I am discussing wedding plans."

Allie giggled before he took her hand and sighed, "But seriously, Allie, I know I've said this probably hundreds of times by now, but thank you so much. If it hadn't been for you, I'd probably never be where I am today."

Allie smiled sweetly and leaned in for a kiss when suddenly, both were interrupted when they noticed a news report from Hero Planet. Shaymin sat behind a desk and said, "Attention, everyone. We have been facing a serious crisis for the last nine days, or maybe it was ten. I don't know, but I just want to let you all know that there is no need to panic."

Drizzile blinked and uttered, "Well, good to know whatever problem this is has been fixed," only to be proven wrong when Shaymin continued, "Now, the problem has not been fixed yet, but we have found a solution. See, two extremely dangerous criminals have escaped into the past. Their plan is to wipe out the entire hero population during a time when there didn't exist anyone powerful enough to take them down. Considering we have not had any changes to the present, we can only assume that their plan has not worked yet. That is why we have constructed a time machine to go back to whatever era they're currently in."

Everyone in the restaurant was beyond intrigued by this. However, Drizzile knew things would not be as simple as just leaving things to the government when the hedgehog explained, "Now, of course, I will be heading to the past. I know I'm endangering myself, but back in the twenty tens, it became perfectly legal for a chairperson to put him or herself in danger for the safety of others. But even so, I will humbly admit that I do need help for this mission. I know it's hard to believe, but I've fought these two once before and suffered defeat at their hands."

Drizzile gulped nervously and tensed up. Allie saw this and rested her hand against his. And of course, Rillaboom, Scorbunny and Vaporeon all saw this report on the gorilla's tablet while they were in the midst of preparing their salmon.

The fox gulped and thought, 'I just know it. She's probably gonna pick me and the others to go with her. I can totally help her. I just know it.'

"Unfortunately, the time machine can only fit eight people at once," Shaymin stated, "I was considering bringing the Ultra Beasts with me since Buzzwole and Nihilego defeated these two ten years ago. Unfortunately, they're not as strong as they used to be. Just like everyone else from their generation, they've gotten weaker overtime."

The hedgehog refused to point out how Buzzwole and Pheromosa had helped her get Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus to surrender. While that should have been impressive, all three gods had fought them at a fraction of their real strength and had not really been defeated, so it was not that big of an accomplishment. Not only that, but both were not quite as strong now as they had been at that time.

It seemed as if Vaporeon's assumption was correct to a certain degree when Shaymin stated, "Anyway, I'm not too worried. Luckily, today's heroes have proven themselves to be extremely competent. Of course, I'd be a fool not to include the world champion, so I'm totally gonna make, er, I mean ask Drizzile to come along."

The chameleon blinked and stared at the screen blankly. Before, he would have gladly accepted such a task, but with his wedding coming up, he could not help but wonder if now was a good time. However, he realized this was much more important when Allie smiled reassuringly at him and nodded. After all, if the hero population was wiped out, there would be no wedding and he would not sit back and pray that someone else could fix that for him.

"Along with him, I feel it only fair to invite Scorbunny and Rillaboom along," Shaymin added, "After all, those three work really well together. As for the other four, well, we'll have to wait and see. But for now, everyone relax. We're on the job."

And so, the broadcast ended as many people felt relieved to know that their three best heroes would go to the past to fix all of this. But even so, no one knew whether this would be difficult or not. On one hand, it seemed like they only had two villains to worry about, but who was to say Dialga and Palkia had not already managed to amass an army of villains from the past to assist them? For all they knew, this whole ordeal could very well turn into an all-out war.

Either way, Rillaboom grinned with her fists up and exclaimed, "Hell yeah! I'm ready for this!" Scorbunny skipping back and forth on one foot at a time while squealing, "She doesn't even need to ask us! Of course we'll do it!"

However, Vaporeon simply stared blankly at the screen and uttered, "She didn't mention me," Scorbunny patting her on the shoulder and replying, "She probably just chose us because we technically beat those three gods. I'm sure as long as you volunteer, she'll let you come with us."

The fox bit her lower lip before she nodded her head and sighed, "Yeah, you're probably right," a big grin on her face while she clenched her fists, "Whoever these two criminals are, I'll kick the shit out of them," Scorbunny and Rillaboom staring at her until she uttered, "Oh, I mean we'll kick the shit out of them."

Now Rillaboom could definitely tell something was up. But at the same time, she had a feeling Vaporeon did not wish to talk about it yet, thus she took a deep breath and turned off her tablet.

Of course, Morgrem and Rolycoly had seen the report as well, the goblin grinning and exclaiming, "We are totally volunteering for this!" the golem nodding and saying, "Yeah. There's no way these two monsters are gonna wipe us out of existence."

Morgrem blinked and uttered, "But wait, isn't your mom a villain?" the golem replying, "Oh yeah. I guess I'll still be here," stroking his chin before tears rolled down his cheeks before he clasped onto Morgrem's hands and sniffed, "But yours aren't! That means we would never meet because you wouldn't exist!"

Both held each other in a tight embrace and released tears while up on Hero Planet, Shaymin grinned and folded her arms behind her head, saying, "Yep, things are looking up."

"Um, ma'am, with all due respect, why didn't you show a picture of the two culprits or reveal their names?" a nearby staff member enquired before Shaymin blinked and groaned, "Shit, I knew I forgot something." She then shrugged her shoulders and added, "Oh well. I'll just let the volunteers know who to look for. That way, we can split up to cover more ground."

And so, the following morning, Shaymin came to Earth in a different kind of vessel. This one was fairly big and shaped like a perfect sphere. Of course, she landed in Edmonton and was met by a big news crew. But as much as she liked the coverage, what mattered most was that the heroes of Edmonton had also arrived.

Thus she grinned and squealed, "Hey, you all made it!" running over to Drizzile and shaking his hand while he blinked and forced a light smile.

Of course, the human women were there to see their friends off as were Allie's parents, Brian and Wendy. Along with them were Bruce and Carl, a tall burly man and a rather scrawny one respectively. Both of them happened to be Bailey's fathers.

"Just to make sure, you all realize how serious this is, right?" Shaymin enquired before Scorbunny nodded and replied, "Of course," Rillaboom adding, "I'm also gonna take a wild guess and say we probably shouldn't tell anyone we're from the future, right?"

Shaymin blinked and uttered, "Oh, I see you're ahead of the game on this one. But yes, it is imperative that no one in the past find out where we came from. If they find out that we're from the distant future, the results could be catastrophic."

She then looked over the trio and said, "Wow, you guys look just as strong as ever. By the way, Scorbunny, good job on your recent victory," the rabbit blushing lightly and chuckling, "Oh, well, thank you," Vaporeon biting her lower lip and hoping Shaymin would not bring up her loss.

"Anyway, we won't head off until we have exactly eight people with us," Shaymin stated before she turned to the other three heroes and enquired, "So, um, do any of you wanna come?"

Vaporeon formed a big smile and stepped forward, saying, "I'm more than up for this task!" before she gave an army salute.

Shaymin held her hand up to her chin and nodded her head before she said, "Yeah, you'll do nicely," Vaporeon blinking and uttering, "Wait, that's it?"

She then shook her head and took a deep breath. If anything, she was just glad that Shaymin had agreed to let her come along. This at least gave her a chance to prove that she was worthy of this task.

Morgrem grinned wide and exclaimed, "Count us in, too!" resting a hand on Rolycoly's shoulder. The golem nodded before Geneva gave him a peck on the cheek and said, "I know you'll be awesome."

Rolycoly blushed and rubbed the back of his head before Rillaboom turned to face the two. She then bit her lower lip and approached them, saying, "As much as we'd love to have the two of you, I feel as if at least a couple of us should probably stay behind to guard Edmonton, you know, just in case."

"Not to mention their track record is mediocre at best," Shaymin grumbled in a voice quiet enough for the others not to hear. And as much as the goblin and golem hated to admit it, Rillaboom did have a point. After all, if they could stop Dialga and Palkia, it would be nice for everyone to come back to a bright future.

But just as Morgrem and Rolycoly were about to agree to this, a male Romanian voice suddenly entered the area and said, "Don't worry, sis. We'll take care of Edmonton while you're away."

Both heroes turned to see a tall green goblin standing there along with a sea lion. The green goblin was Morgrem's brother, Grimmsnarl and the sea lion was Samurott.

"Bro!" Morgrem squealed before she leapt toward her brother. Both held each other in a tight embrace and twirled around before the red goblin asked, "When did you guys get here?"

"We just arrived at the airport an hour ago," Samurott replied, "We booked a flight as soon as we saw the report. We figured all six of you would wanna go to the past."

But while Morgrem was thrilled to hear this at first, her joy became doubt before she sighed, "I dunno, maybe it would be best if you went to the past instead," Rolycoly uttering, "Yeah. To be fair, we're not exactly Edmonton's best."

Grimmsnarl took a deep breath and set his sister down before he rested his hands on her shoulders. He then stated, "Come on, sis, you bested me in combat. Don't you dare tell me you're not fit for the job," Samurott adding, "And besides, Rolycoly, you beat a dragon made entirely out of steel. Anyone who can pull that off is definitely worthy."

Geneva nodded and patted the golem on the back before she said, "He's right. You're amazing, and the others would be lucky to have you along."

She then planted her lips against his, thus he blushed and chuckled, "Well, alright, if you insist."

With that in mind, Morgrem and Rolycoly turned toward their friends with wide grins. As such, the other four heroes smiled wide and shared a big group hug. However, Shaymin looked back and forth between Grimmsnarl and Samurott and uttered, "Are you sure both of you need to stay behind? Because I would gladly bring one of you two along with me."

Grimmsnarl blinked and stroked his chin, saying, "Well, I'm sure one of us alone would be badass enough," only for a voice with a slight Russian accent to state, "It's okay. I wanna go."

Everyone turned toward the source and saw a cyborg made mostly out of liquid metal standing right there. After a few seconds, all six heroes of Edmonton pointed at him and barked, "YOU!"

The cyborg in question was Melmetal, a villain who had once snuck his way into the Hero Olympics in the hopes that he could beat the world's greatest heroes and strike fear across the world. However, while Drizzile was just as shocked as the others at first, he quickly calmed down and approached him, asking, "Did you just say you wanted to help?"

"Yes," Melmetal replied, "Ever since you beat me in the Olympic finals, your words have really resonated with me. You were right. All those people who cheered for me did so because they truly believed I was good. So I'm ready to finally earn respect the right way, and I figure saving the future would be the best step."

While the others were a tad sceptical at first, they slowly started to notice something. Every time they would even come close to Melmetal during the Olympics, no matter how nice he would act, they always got bad vibes from him. This was the first time none of them felt that.

On top of that, aside from Vaporeon, all of Edmonton's heroes had started as villains. As such, they felt it would be hypocritical not to give Melmetal this chance. As such, Drizzile smiled and held out his hand, saying, "Welcome to the team."

After the cyborg shook his hand with gratitude, Scorbunny smirked and slugged him on the arm before saying, "Maybe we can fight again someday, eh? I'll totally pay you back for covering me in spikes," Rillaboom adding, "I've also mastered all of my grass type abilities."

Melmetal rubbed the back of his head and chuckled, "Oh man, I might not stand a chance against you this time," Vaporeon staring at him briefly before a light smile formed on her face. While she had not entirely gotten over the way he literally crushed her in the first round of the Olympics tournament, she had also given the others a chance.

Morgrem and Rolycoly of course had no complaints either, thus Shaymin nodded and said, "Well, I guess that's settled. I was afraid I'd have to go from country to country looking for volunteers, but this worked out perfectly."

She then lowered her eyelids and uttered, "It worked out too perfectly," before shrugging her shoulders and saying, "I'll give you all a little bit longer to say your goodbyes. Then it's off to the past."

"Thank you," Drizzile replied before he approached Allie and held her in a tight embrace. The two then shared a kiss before the tall woman sighed, "Kick ass like you always do."

"Of course," the chameleon replied with a sweet smile while Rolycoly and Geneva hugged one-another as well.

Rillaboom gave a nice goodbye to the others while Morgrem gave her brother one last hug. And of course, Scorbunny had to give one to every single person seeing them off.

Bruce grinned and patted her on the shoulder, saying, "Do your best out there, alright?" Carl exclaiming, "Yeah, kick their asses!" gritting his teeth and clenching his fists while his muscular husband rubbed his shoulders and sighed, "Calm down, honey."

Brian smiled and said, "I feel safe with all of you fighting for the fate of the world," Wendy adding, "If there's anyone who can take care of these two, it's you guys."

With all said and done, the heroes were finally ready to take off. Thus they all climbed into the vessel, Shaymin taking a deep breath and saying, "Be sure to strap in tight. I have no idea how fast this thing will go."

Drizzile and Rolycoly both gulped nervously and looked at one-another while Scorbunny looked rather excited. But right now, Vaporeon did not even care about travel sickness. She just wanted to defeat at least one of these two villains.

Before Shaymin took off, though, she gave each hero two pictures of the dragons with their names written on them. As such, all seven nodded in understanding. Both dragons certainly looked powerful, but all of them felt like they had dealt with worse.

And with all said and done, Shaymin pulled out a vial that contained a DNA sample extracted from the parts that had been taken from the dragons. She then dropped a sample into a small tube before getting a reading on the time they had gone to. Her eyes widened as she uttered, "Oh, wow. I can't believe of all the years, they went with this one," before taking a deep breath and pressing a big red button.

With that, the vessel floated into the air as a bright light surrounded it. And once it vanished, there was no turning back. All eight heroes were headed to the past, but just which year did Shaymin see on the screen? And furthermore, how had Dialga and Palkia not succeeded in their goal yet?


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Some Pokemon designs here may confuse you. While I've mentioned already that armless Pokemon or those who are just heads in the main canon will be altered to fit the wrestling theme, Lairon, Heracross and Diancie's heads are different. And while I would recommend reading the first Earth's Protectors for context, I'll be nice and provide an explanation for each of these later.

Shaymin and the others had only flown through time and space for a little over a minute, but it felt like a few hours. After all, the vessel was even faster than they thought. As such, those who felt prepared were now terrified out of their minds while Rolycoly and Drizzile embraced one-another.

After a little longer, their flight finally ended when their vessel arrived, Shaymin saying, "Here we are, everyone, the year twenty eighteen."

"Wait, did you say twenty eighteen?" Vaporeon uttered, Drizzile's eyes wide with shock as he said, "I can't believe it."

He then looked out the window on the front of the vessel, and sure enough, they had not only flown to this particular time line but they were also in Tokyo. Shaymin, however, was much more focused on finding a place to land while everyone else was just as amazed as Drizzile.

However, after a while, there was one thing that confused Vaporeon. While she looked through the city, she enquired, "So you're sure this is where they went?"

"Well, my top scientists told me this would work one hundred percent," Shaymin replied, "They injected it with Jikan. Apparently, that guarantees a perfect reading."

After a while, Rillaboom frowned and sighed, "I hate to say it, but I see where Vaporeon's coming from. I know I should be happy about this, but no one seems to be suffering in the slightest. The streets are also full, which kinda tells me people aren't gathered together to watch a big fight."

"Not only that, but there's an awful lot of heroes walking around," Morgrem added before Shaymin looked down and said, "You're right."

Sure enough, while the human population still outnumbered the heroes as usual, there was a rather big gathering, and not the ones Shaymin had expected to see. There was a green bug walking with an orange falcon and a red bug-like knight in shogun armour along with an orange gecko. And there were so many more.

"Wait a minute," Shaymin uttered, "Normally when this many heroes are gathered in one place, it means there's a big government funded event coming up. But why would that be? There are no events recorded for this year."

"Wait, for real?" Scorbunny remarked, "You sure you got your dates right?" Melmetal replying, "Miss Chairwoman's right. According to the history books, this particular day was just another ordinary day like any other."

Morgrem thought about this for a few seconds before gasping, "Oh my god! Palkia and Dialga are already spreading their reign of terror! They've made a change in history!" waving her fingers in a spooky fashion while Rolycoly placed his hands over his mouth and trembled in terror.

"Well, that is certainly a possibility," Rillaboom replied, "But this doesn't seem that bad. In fact, it looks like whatever they did has made people happy."

If anything, that only made this more suspect. With that in mind, Shaymin eventually found a place to land. Luckily, ships from Hero Planet were common, even back in the twenty tens, so no one within the vicinity really questioned it. And considering how many heroes from different countries were currently in Tokyo, it made even more sense.

And so, Shaymin emerged and stretched before saying, "Now, remember, we can't let anyone know we're from the future. Ideally, I'm hoping we can take care of this without having to employ the help of any of this generation's heroes."

"You know, come to think of it-" Drizzile uttered, "Are we really needed in this era? In this time line, the Mach family is still a thing. I mean, Lucario and Machoke, both of which have won at least one tournament each are still alive. By this time in history, Machoke had already beaten six villains who snuck their way into tournaments. Not only that, but he also saved the world from Giratina."

"Yeah, but Giratina's strength had dropped significantly since his body had been dead for ages and he didn't think to train it," Vaporeon replied, "I imagine even the mighty Machoke might need our help."

But while the heroes all looked around, they noticed various fliers and TV ads all over the place talking about an event called The Ultimate World Team Tournament being held in Tokyo. It was at that moment that Shaymin understood everything as she gasped, "Oh my god! They're actually holding this again!?"

Rillaboom blinked and enquired, "Again?" Melmetal explaining, "That's right. The Ultimate World Team Tournament is a big deal, but it's only ever been held twice. After the second one, the government just stopped doing it."

"Yeah," Shaymin sighed, "Apparently, it wasn't as profitable as the Hero Olympics. I think I know why it wasn't as profitable, but it's not like it wasn't popular at all. Just seeing teams of heroes fight was more than enough to fill seats, so I really don't see what's so risky about holding it again."

After a few seconds, Vaporeon's eyes widened as she gasped, "Wait, you don't think Dialga and Palkia somehow convinced Hero Planet's chairman to hold this, do you!?" Melmetal uttering, "Oh my god, you might be right. If they did this, then they might very well be trying the same thing I did."

"But that doesn't make sense," Shaymin uttered, "Palkia told me their plan was to eradicate the world's heroes. Why would they need an event where they're not allowed to kill anyone for that?"

Everyone then turned to Melmetal. They figured if anyone would know, it would be him. As such, the cyborg folded his arms, formed a finger on his right hand and scratched the side of his head. Then after a while, he gasped, "I got it! Wow, that's diabolical!"

"What is it?" Morgrem enquired, Melmetal explaining, "It's risky, very risky, but it's actually less dangerous than just going from country to country and murdering heroes left and right. They're trying to bring a whole bunch of the world's greatest heroes together so they can beat the best of the best in competition. This will make them so famous that every villain left on the planet will want to team up with them. They'll start by slaughtering everyone who entered the tournament in the first place so the world's best fighters will be out of the way. That way, no one will be able to stop them no matter what."

Shaymin smirked and folded her arms, saying, "Well, they clearly did not plan for our coming. My presence alone pretty much guarantees that we might not even have to fight them. They made a really stupid move."

The others stared at her for a few seconds before the majority understood what she meant. All they had to do was expose the dragons to Hero Planet's chairman and they would be disqualified before the elimination round could begin. This was perfect.

Rillaboom looked at a nearby poster that indicated they all had a week to go before the big event started. Though it also mentioned that unlike the last time the event was held, only sixty four heroes were allowed to enter, making for a total of thirty two teams. But luckily for them, Shaymin noticed on the official website that registration had just started and so far, only four had entered, with Palkia and Dialga being half of them.

"Well, this is perfect," Scorbunny squealed, "We can all make our own teams," Morgrem and Rolycoly both smiling at one-another and holding each other in a tight embrace.

But just as the heroes' excitement grew, Shaymin remarked, "Nope, we don't need to compete. Apparently, the chairman and his wife are already here to manage the event. All we need to do is tell them Dialga and Palkia are evil and problem solved. They'll rot away in prison and we won't have to do a thing."

While this was certainly the most logical step, most of the heroes could not help but feel a tad disappointed by this. But even so, Rillaboom and Drizzile both agreed this was for the best, and while Vaporeon normally would have shared that mindset, she really wanted a chance to partake, but why?

Either way, the eight of them all headed to an address listed on the site. And when they arrived, they noticed quite a few famous heroes already in line to register. Along with the four spotted earlier, there was also a dark-blue dragon with features that resembled a plane and a grey dinosaur covered in iron armour that resembled a spine. The only part not covered was his skull.

There was also a cyborg with a perfectly round head that had magnets attached to the cheeks along with a short blue turtle with a squirrel tail. There was also a grey sylph with a pink diamond on her forehead and matching long hair.

But of course, the major standouts were the heroes of Tokyo. And while only two of them still officially lived there, there was no way the others would sit this out. The two at the front of the line in particular were the tag team champions of this generation.

The first was a grey reptilian man with great physique, narrow red eyes and ridges on his skull. With a black speedo and red stripes on his arms, this was Machoke.

Next to him was his wife, a beautiful woman with a snow white body that resembled a gown. Although her hair, arms and legs were green. She also had a red spike that resembled a fin growing out of her chest, but surprisingly, it was nowhere near as sharp as it looked. Either way, she also had a very strong reputation and went by the name Gardevoir. Currently, she wore a spiked collar around her neck and a red jersey with a hole in the chest area courtesy of her spike.

Behind the couple was a skinny man with a green upper body and a white lower body. He had round hips and strong legs along with two spikes similar to Gardevoir's coming out of his chest and back. His arms were shaped like tonfas and his elbows were blades. With a white head with green hair that resembled a helmet, this was Gardevoir's brother, Gallade.

Next to him was his own wife, a tan woman with five blunt protrusions along her head. She also wore boxing gloves and a light-purple tunic and was named Hitmonchan.

Although strangely enough, the last hero in Tokyo was not in line. In fact, she was currently resting up against a nearby signpost watching her friends register.

She was a tall red chicken with features similar to that of a falcon. Down the back of her head and shoulders were beige feathers that looked like hair. The lower halves of her legs were yellow and her talons and wrists were grey and resembled bandages. This was Blaziken, Machoke's first rival.

As soon as Scorbunny saw her, her eyes sparkled as she uttered, "Oh my god, it's Blaziken," panting heavily as Vaporeon nodded and said, "Oh yeah, she's your idol, right?"

The rabbit nodded and squeaked, "Oh, how I'd love to team up with her! It sucks that we're not really signing up, because then I could be her partner!" the fox blinking and tapping her chin with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

And there were so much more, Shaymin saying, "Well, look at that. Only a few are signing up right now. We're in luck," a big grin on her face while Morgrem and Rolycoly looked down. While this was convenient, they were not even there to sign up anyway.

Machoke grinned after he registered himself and Gardevoir, exclaiming, "Look at that! We're the first team to sign up! Honey, you're a genius!" Gardevoir giggling, "Well, it only stands to reason that showing up an hour in advance would guarantee us a front spot."

A wasp with stingers for hands named Beedrill implied a smile with his eyes and said, "I knew there was no way you two would sit this one out. But be warned. We're totally gonna crush you this time," a purple butterfly with stubby blue hands named Butterfree grunting, "Damn straight. Thankfully, Ditto and Ditta are rotting in prison. I swear, I wish I could have been the one to put them out of commission after they stole our spot in the last one!"

"I'm a little surprised you're holding this again, though," Machoke stated, "I thought you weren't interested in it anymore," Beedrill replying, "Well, that's true. But we had quite a bit of persuasion."

It was at that moment that the couple noticed Dialga and Palkia seated right next to the bugs, the blue dragon dressed in a suit and tie while the purple one wore a dress. Both were rather embarrassed to be seen in such outfits, but they had no choice but to accept this.

Machoke blinked and uttered, "Oh, hello," Gardevoir giving a light curtsy. Both dragons bowed their heads before Beedrill explained, "This is Palkia and Dialga. They're our new advisers."

Despite how big the crowd was, Shaymin and the others heard this. Thus their eyes widened with horror while Drizzile uttered, "Did I hear that right?"

Rillaboom blinked and enquired, "Shaymin, was this a common thing back then? I thought one would need years of experience to become an adviser for the chairperson," the hedgehog growling, "You're right. I know things weren't quite as strict in this time line, but I'm pretty sure that was still a rule. I don't know what kind of strings they pulled, but I'm definitely putting a stop to this."

Sure enough, Beedrill mentioned how the two had confirmed having years of experience in the office of their home planets, and for Dialga, this was technically true. While he did not have an official position, his father, who was the ruler of the planet, had allowed him to attend various meetings and the like. And since Palkia was his partner right now, that was good enough. On top of that, the blue dragon even had an official government card that he had custom made for himself in preparation for this day. And for some reason, the residents of his planet did not date government cards, so that worked perfectly for him.

"Basically, it was their idea to host the event again but with a few new twists," Beedrill stated before Machoke and Gardevoir nodded with big smiles.

At that moment, a purple lizard with a yellow belly and electric frills that went from his nose to the back of his neck growled, "Can you guys move it along!? Some of us have other things to do!"

Gallade laughed nervously and uttered, "I'm kinda with him on this," Machoke and Gardevoir chuckling and exiting the line to join Blaziken. And of course, as much as Gallade would have liked to talk to the wasp and butterfly as well, he figured those behind him had waited long enough.

Shaymin frowned and grunted, "You were right, Melmetal. But just wait. Those happy looks of theirs will leave them soon enough."

Palkia had a big grin on her face while she whispered, "This is great. They're all lining up like cattle," Dialga sighing, "Please, try to keep quiet until none of them are nearby."

Thankfully, the dragons had not yet spotted Shaymin. Sure, Melmetal and Rillaboom stood out due to their height, but since Dialga and Palkia still had little knowledge of the time period they had come from over a week ago, they had no idea who these two heroes were.

After Gallade and Hitmonchan signed up, they returned to their friends with big smiles as the boxer squealed, "This is so exciting! I can't wait to compete again!" Gallade chuckling, "Me neither. I just hope I can make it past the first round this time. I don't care if I don't win the event. I just wanna win one match this time."

He then released light tears and sniffed, "Is that really so much to ask!?" Machoke and Blaziken laughing nervously while Gardevoir gave her brother a hug and squeaked, "I'm sure you can do it this time! I'll always believe in you, big bro!"

Gallade took a deep breath and sighed, "What did I do to deserve all of you guys?" Hitmonchan chuckling before looking around and asking, "Hey, where's Aipom?" Machoke replying, "She said she had a lot of cleaning to do at home. Though don't worry, she'll definitely be there to cheer us on."

After many more teams registered, Shaymin and her group were finally at the front. And as soon as Dialga spotted her, his eyes widened as he uttered, "How?" Beedrill turning to him and asking, "Is something wrong?"

The blue dragon cleared his throat before Palkia whispered, "Quiet, you'll expose everything," Dialga glaring at her before Shaymin smirked and thought, 'Oh, yes, something is terribly wrong. You know exactly what that is, don't you?'

"So, do you wish to sign up?" Beedrill enquired only for the hedgehog to reply, "Actually, I came here for a different reason," the remaining teams behind her groaning before she sighed, "This takes precedence over you guys, because I'm about to prevent a major rule violation from taking place!"

"Wait, you are?" Butterfree enquired before Melmetal nodded and said, "Just to be sure, it is against the rules for villains to enter any tournament for heroes, right?"

Beedrill nodded and replied, "But of course it is. Are you saying one of our teams works for the side of evil?" Palkia releasing nervous sweat only for Dialga to fold his arms and grit his teeth, thinking, 'No, this is not how our plan is thwarted.'

However, he did wince briefly when Shaymin pointed at him and his partner and spat, "These two are villains! They came to my home planet, beat me up and talked about how they were going to wipe out the entire hero population!" many of the heroes in line gasping upon hearing this.

Machoke and his friends also overheard this as the reptilian man groaned, "Oh, you've gotta be kidding," Gallade replying, "At least we didn't have to wait for you to fight them this time."

"I demand you boot these two out of the tournament and out of Hero Planet's office immediately!" Shaymin snapped while Palkia started to gnaw on her nails. However, she calmed down when Dialga turned to her and gave her a reassuring look.

Beedrill folded his arms and said, "We will gladly do that, for sure," Butterfree glaring at the dragons until he added, "That is, as long as you can provide proof of what you've said."

"Wait, what?" Shaymin uttered as the wasp stated, "I want to believe you. Trust me, we had five villains sneak into the last one of these, and heck, my wife and I used to serve the side of evil. But unless you can provide proof, all we can assume is that you're trying to get them kicked out because you're butthurt over the fact that you lost to them."

Butterfree blinked and uttered, "Oh yeah, that's a really good point," before barking, "How do we know you've even met before!?" Melmetal tensing up while Shaymin stared awkwardly at him.

"Everything I said happened!" she snapped, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to!? I'm the chairwoman of-" only for Scorbunny to cover her mouth from behind and grin nervously, saying, "Sorry, um, she hasn't had her morning coffee. She's really on edge."

Beedrill blinked as Drizzile added, "We'll just leave right now, okay?" Palkia frowning while Butterfree said, "You'd better. I was just about to open up a can of whoopass," Beedrill sighing, "Honey, that's what security is for."

And so, all eight heroes exited the line as Morgrem sighed, "Great, now what do we do?" Rolycoly shrugging and replying, "Why don't we just enter the tournament? They're also participating, right?"

Shaymin bit her lower lip only for Melmetal to pat her on the back and say, "That's a good idea. We came here to fight them anyway, right?" the hedgehog whimpering, "I know, but I wanted to be able to fight them on my own accord."

She then took a deep breath, sported a more serious look and grunted, "Fine! If that's what it takes!" noticing the line moving much quicker until all of the heroes present had signed up. And luckily for them, there were still twenty spots open. After all, quite a few contestants still needed to come from other countries.

With that in mind, Melmetal implied a smile with his eye and said, "Come on, partner. Even if we have to make our way to the finals, we can stop them, right?" Shaymin blinking and uttering, "Partner? Are you saying you want to team up with me?"

The cyborg nodded before the hedgehog's eyes sparkled, thus she took hold of his wrist and marched over to the booth just as Beedrill and Butterfree were about to go on break. The wasp spotted her as Dialga growled, "Oh, good, you're back. Beedrill, you might wanna call security."

"Hold it," Shaymin remarked, holding out her hand before faking a sweet smile, "I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour earlier. I don't even know what came over me. I came all this way to sign up for the tournament and I let my emotions get the better of me. It's like my friend over there said," pointing at Scorbunny, "I get very irritable when I don't have my morning coffee."

"You know, now that I think about it, I have no idea how old she is," Rillaboom whispered before Drizzile shrugged and replied, "I'd say she must be in her twenties, but according to the history books, that wasp over there became chairman at the age of sixteen."

Beedrill blinked before Butterfree chuckled, "Oh, believe me, sister, I've had days like that. I guess we can forgive this one outburst, can't we, sweetie?" Beedrill nodding and dipping his right stinger into an ink well.

But just as he was about to have her and Melmetal sign, Palkia said, "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think we should let them join after-" only for Dialga to cover her mouth and state, "Go ahead."

The purple dragon stared at him only for him to whisper, "If we forbid them from entering, it'll look suspicious and they might start to think Shaymin told the truth about us. We already beat her once, and I'm sure this new ally of hers won't make her that much of a threat."

Palkia nodded and kept her mouth shut, thus the chairwoman and cyborg were registered as Beedrill said, "Very good. Be sure to come to the Nissan Stadium in a week from now. We'll post the location on our website in case you forget."

After that, he looked at the others and enquired, "Do any of you wish to enter?" Rolycoly and Morgrem immediately volunteering. And of course, the others were more than ready, Rillaboom grinning at Scorbunny and saying, "I just realized something."

"What is it?" Scorbunny uttered before the gorilla stated, "This is exactly what Eternatus told us about. He said we'd need our camaraderie to stop a serious threat someday. This is that exact threat."

The rabbit's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Oh my god, yes!" before turning to face Vaporeon and adding, "Come on, Vaporeon, we can form a team together!"

The fox blinked and stared briefly at the rabbit. A light smile formed on her face, but just as she was about to accept, she stopped briefly and thought, 'Wait, this is my big chance. Ever since these four joined my team, they've upstaged me at every opportunity. I'll still cheer for them, but I need to do this on my own.'

With that in mind, she turned to face Beedrill and asked, "Excuse me, sir, has someone named Blaziken signed up?" the wasp blinking and replying, "Surprisingly, no. I thought for sure she would. You wanna ask her to team up with you?"

"Actually, my friend would love to," Vaporeon replied before she rested a hand on Scorbunny's shoulder. The rabbit's eyes were wide with shock as she slowly turned to face the fox. And when she saw a sweet smile on her face, she uttered, "Do you mean that? You won't feel offended if I do that?"

"Scorbunny, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you," Vaporeon said reassuringly, "It would be a waste for you not to take it."

With that in mind, the rabbit bit her lower lip and released tears. She then gave the fox the biggest hug she had given anyone and sprinted off, Beedrill saying, "Well, if Blaziken accepts, I'm all for that."

He then released tears and sniffed, "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold back. That was beautiful," Butterfree patting him on the shoulder while Dialga saw this as more beneficial than anything else.

This left Drizzile and Rillaboom who gladly agreed to team up only for the chameleon to face Vaporeon and utter, "Are you sure about this? You could have competed in the tournament with us," the fox sighing, "There are plenty of heroes in this time line. I'm sure I can find someone to be my partner."

With that in mind, both glanced at one-another and shrugged their shoulders before heading off to train. Scorbunny bound toward Blaziken with excitement while Vaporeon bit her lower lip and thought, 'Please tell me that was the right decision.'


	4. Chapter 4

While Shaymin had failed to get Dialga and Palkia booted out of the upcoming team tournament, this hardly mattered. Now that she and the others were signed up, there was no doubt they could stop the dragons from accomplishing their goals. On top of that, they even had a chance to compete in front of a crowd for the first time in almost three years.

Or at least most of them did. Unfortunately, Vaporeon might very well have sacrificed her chance when she allowed Scorbunny an opportunity to team up with Blaziken. As such, she decided to keep a close eye on the rabbit to see if the chicken would really accept her as a partner.

At this time, Machoke and the others were about to head off to spend some time with each other. After all, they intended to use most of the week for training purposes and wished to take full advantage of this moment right now.

But right before they could vacate the area, Scorbunny squeaked, "Hey, Blaziken!" the chicken turning to notice her standing there with a big open-mouth smile on her face and stars in her eyes. She also had her hands held up to her chin and balled up into fists while her elbows shook back and forth.

Machoke turned and asked, "Hey, you coming?" Blaziken replying, "One second," before looking awkwardly at Scorbunny and enquiring, "Can I help you?"

Scorbunny breathed heavily for a few seconds before she cleared her throat and said, "Sorry. I can barely contain myself. You are my biggest fan!"

All went silent until she bonked herself on the forehead and groaned, "Dammit, that came out wrong! You don't even know me!" Blaziken biting the lower half of her beak and snickering. And when the rabbit noticed this, she felt her soul shatter and tried her best not to tear up.

At that moment, the chicken gasped, "Oh my god! Calm down," smiling lightly, "It's just, I'm used to human fans. You're the first hero to say that to me. Well, granted, you're also the first one to put it that way, but still, I'm flattered."

Gallade blinked and uttered, "Maybe we should leave these two alone for now," Hitmonchan beaming bright and giving Blaziken two thumbs up before she and the others went on ahead. Blaziken turned toward them and waved before exclaiming, "You guys start without me! I'll be at the club real soon!"

She then turned to face Scorbunny and said, "So, I reckon you'll be wanting an autograph, eh?" Scorbunny about to agree to that before she took a deep breath and shook her head. She then bit her lower lip and sighed, "Actually, Blaziken, I noticed that you didn't enter the tournament. Why is that?"

"Can't find a partner," Blaziken sighed, "The only hero I've ever worked well with is Gardevoir, and, well, she and Machoke work much better together. So I figured unless I can find a good partner soon, I'd just sit this one out."

Scorbunny had certainly heard of that. While Blaziken and Gardevoir had lost the first round of this very tournament four years ago, they had put up an incredible fight, more so than most expected considering how vastly different both heroes were.

Even so, Scorbunny took a deep breath and said, "Well, I kinda wanna enter the tournament myself and I was wondering-" biting her lip hard before barking, "PLEASE BE MY PARTNER!"

Vaporeon watched this, not sure if she truly wanted Blaziken to say yes or not. However, it seemed the results may very well lead toward the latter when the chicken chuckled, "Okay, I really appreciate all of this, but look, it's like you said. I've never heard of you. I've never seen you in combat. Hell, I don't even know your name. For all I know, you might just be some fangirl who's never seen combat before."

Scorbunny frowned, trying to find a way to say what she needed to without revealing that she was from the future. Thus she stated, "I'll have you know I placed third in a tournament back home!"

Blaziken rose an eyebrow before the rabbit added, "But also, look, Blaziken, I'm not just some crazy fan. I'm a super fan. You're my idol. I've based most of my fighting style off of yours!"

Now the chicken started to have second thoughts again until Scorbunny sighed, "Wait," looking around before spotting a man carrying an old mannequin out to the trash. As such, she ran over to him and asked if she could take it off his hands to which he gladly agreed.

She then carried it over to the chicken and said, "Alright, get a load of this," before she leapt onto the back of the plastic person and lit her feet on fire while clutching onto the sides of its head. Blaziken's eyes were wide with shock when Scorbunny squeaked, "BUNNY BLAZE KICK!" and rammed her heels into the back of its neck, knocking it forward before its fragments scattered across the ground.

The chicken's beak hung open while she stared at Scorbunny in stunned silence. Up until now, the only one not from her family who had even come close to mastering her Blaze Kick was Machoke, but his version was more similar to Ben's Cowboy Kick. And yet before the chicken's very eyes stood someone else who could not only use the ability but even found a way to make it more effective.

As such, she grinned and said, "Well, I'd like to see what other abilities of mine you've mastered." She then slapped her knee and chuckled, "Colour me intrigued! Let's go sign up right now! We'll be the Flying Phoenixes!"

Scorbunny's eyes sparkled brighter than ever before while she hopped toward the chairman's booth beside Blaziken. Vaporeon watched this and bit her lower lip while Dialga noticed this and whispered, "Look at that. I could tell from looking at that rabbit and mermaid thing that they would have made for a much better team. Now their chances of success have dropped."

He then turned to Palkia and added, "Say, I have a job for you. You think you can handle it?" the purple dragon forming a big grin and nodding.

As if Scorbunny being accepted into Blaziken's team was not enough, the chicken had actually invited her to hang out with her friends at the club they were headed to. While Vaporeon had no reason to be upset since she had set this up, a part of her felt like she had made a mistake.

Even so, she took a deep breath and thought, 'No, this is a sign. I just need to find a new partner. Yeah, if I can win the whole tournament with someone I've never fought with before, I'll finally gain the same reputation Mommy had, even if it's not in my own time.'

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and set off to find someone. But after a while, her eyes widened when she suddenly remembered a very important detail. Machoke and Gardevoir were the only heroes currently in Tokyo who lived there. Everyone else was a visitor from another country with a partner of his or her own, and while Blaziken may have been the exception before, now she was not.

With that in mind, the fox clutched onto the sides of her head and let out a loud cry before whimpering, "Okay, I gotta think. What would Mommy do in a situation like this?"

During this time, Machoke and his friends were all at a place aptly named the Tokyo Day Club. There, a middle-aged man had given them all free drinks to enjoy. Blaziken had some whisky while Gallade had a Ginza Mary as did Hitmonchan. Although Machoke and Gardevoir simply had fruit punch as they could not stand the taste of alcohol.

Scorbunny took a sip of a Caesar and said, "I can see why you guys like this place so much. It's simple but really cozy," Blaziken snickering, "Yeah. Everyone says that about this place, and it's true."

Machoke, all the while, grinned and said, "Still, of all the people to team up with, I never would have imagined you'd choose a fangirl," Gardevoir pouting and retorting, "Honey, that's rude!"

"No, he's right," Scorbunny replied with a big smile, "I'm not the least bit ashamed to admit that I might be the world's number one Blaziken fangirl! How many can honestly say they based their signature moves off of hers!?"

Gallade nodded and said, "Still, I can't help but find it really ironic that you just happen to have the same weakness as Blaziken. The only other hero I know of who can't use slam moves is Sawk, but that's only because he's incapable of using them, not because they cause him to use up a great deal of energy."

"I dunno, is he actually incapable or is it just a conscious choice not to use them?" Machoke uttered, "That's never been established. I always assumed he and Throh just based their fighting styles off of their given names."

The others simply shrugged before resuming their drinks. And when they were finished, Machoke and Gardevoir had a little round at the karaoke machine, which, ever since they became a couple, was one of their favourite activities. Despite the massive voice difference, they had really good harmony.

Scorbunny clapped and squealed, "Me next!" before belting out a tune of her own, Blaziken smirking and saying, "Well, I guess that's one difference between me and her. Her singing voice is actually good," before thinking, 'I don't normally believe in things like fate and destiny, yet it really feels like fate that we just happened to meet today of all days.'

Once Scorbunny was finished, Gallade looked at his phone and gasped, "Oh shit! Honey, we gotta go!" Hitmonchan nodding and replying, "Oh, right. I'd just about forgotten."

Both stood up before Gardevoir enquired, "Where are you going?" the green man chuckling, "Oh, right, I completely forgot to mention. Hitmonchan and I figured since we haven't been to a cinema in Tokyo in forever, we'd have ourselves a movie date, you know, before we have to spend the rest of this week training. You're free to come if you want."

"Nah," Blaziken replied with a grin, "You two lovebirds enjoy yourselves," Machoke and Gardevoir nodding in approval. As such, Gallade and Hitmonchan both gave each other a big smile and headed off while Scorbunny thought, 'I can't believe I'm thinking this, but they're more adorable than Drizzile and Allie.'

Shortly after the couple exited the club, they failed to notice someone looming in the shadows and watching them closely with glowing red eyes. A wicked smirk formed on her face while she followed them and readied a set of claws.

All the while, Vaporeon was currently in a nearby tavern. In her hand was a fruit cocktail, the fox taking a sip of it through a straw and sighing, "I can see why Mommy likes these so much. They have alcohol, but they're loaded with sweet things to disguise the flavor."

She then let out a light hiccup and giggled, "Cocktail's a funny name," when she looked out the window and noticed something going on. As it so happened, someone was currently picked on by a group of teenagers, the tallest one having shoved him backwards into a nearby dumpster.

The victim in question was a black and yellow cat. The thin and flesh-like black fur covered his lower legs, lower body, upper arms and face while the thick yellow fur covered everything else. Each of his thighs had a black stripe shaped like lightning and each forearm had two smaller ones. He had small blue tufts on his chest and a longer one on his forehead that resembled a diamond. And on his cheeks were matching lightning-shaped whiskers. His hands had four claws each and blue pads, his ears were fairly big and his tail was quite long with the tip shaped like a lightning bolt.

But while he may have looked intimidating, it seemed as if he was anything but when a tall boy cracked his knuckles and grunted, "I swear, if you don't get that money by tomorrow night, you'll be far worse off than you are right now!"

He then slammed his hand into the part of the dumpster right above the cat's head and added, "In fact, you'll join the contents of this lovely treasure chest at the local dump!"

The cat gulped and whimpered, "Okay, I understand!" a girl walking over to him with a smirk, placing her hand firmly against his head and saying, "Good boy," rubbing said part so rough that it actually hurt and even caused a bit of his fur to shed.

As soon as the teens left the area, Vaporeon's eyes and mouth widened with shock. Thus she pulled out some cash and paid for her cocktail before she slapped herself in the face. After all, she had a golden opportunity here and would not let a little alcohol ruin that.

But just as she was about to head outside, the bartender looked at her money and asked, "Hey, what is this?" the fox's eyes wide as she slowly turned and uttered, "Oh, right, I forgot to exchange my currency. I am so sorry!"

The man blinked and uttered, "Oh, you must be one of those overseas contestants for the tournament," before he chuckled, "Alright, I'll let it slide this time. Besides, I'm pretty sure this is enough to cover six hundred yen."

Vaporeon breathed a sigh of relief, bowed her head and said, "Thank you," before heading outside and spotting the cat. And it seemed she was just in time as he had only started to sulk away from the area. Thus she approached him from behind and tapped him on the shoulder.

The cat groaned, "Oh, come on, haven't you guys done enough?" only to have a look of shock when he saw a being like him standing before him. Thus he stared at her in stunned silence before he enquired, "Hello. Can I help you?"

Vaporeon looked deep into the cat's eyes and thought, 'Alright, don't ruin this,' before a smile formed on her face and she replied, "As a matter of fact, you can. Or rather, we can help each other. You seem to have a bit of bully trouble there."

The cat stared blankly at her before he remarked, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not dealing with any bullies. Nope, not me!" laughing nervously before Vaporeon sighed, "I saw all of that from the front door. They want money from you, right? How much do you owe them?"

The cat took a deep breath and replied, "A hundred thousand yen," Vaporeon's eyes wide with shock while she thought, 'Damn, that's almost twelve thousand Canadian dollars. I mean, I can afford to cover that, but just barely.'

However, she was desperate, thus she sighed, "Alright, well, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you definitely don't want to be stuffed in a dumpster, right?" the cat rubbing his arm and whimpering, "Of course not. But there's no way I can raise that much money by tomorrow night."

"Well, what if I told you there was?" Vaporeon asked with a light smile. The cat stared briefly at her before she pulled out her wallet and said, "In my wallet is just enough money to cover what you owe."

The cat had to admit, he was certainly intrigued by this. If what she said was true, his problems would be gone, at least for now. But even so, he could not in good conscience take this, but he sighed, "Thanks for the offer, but I can't just take your money, even if you are offering it. If a hundred thousand yen is all you have, it's not worth it for someone like me."

"Of course," Vaporeon replied with a smile, "That's why I want you to do something for me in exchange for the money," the cat staring briefly and tensing up before groaning, "Oh no! You want me to do some sort of awful job, don't you!? Let me guess, you work for a mob boss and you want me to help you whack someone!"

"What!? No!" Vaporeon retorted with a look of disgust, "Oh, god no! I'd never condone that sort of thing!" the cat blinking and uttering, "Oh, thank god. So, do you want me to deliver something or mow your lawn? I'm not exactly amazing at either of those, but I'd gladly do something like that."

Vaporeon shook her head and replied, "Actually, what I have in mind is much more noble. I want you to join me as my partner in the Ultimate World Team Tournament."

The cat stared blankly at the fox before he said, "Oh, you're a hero. That's even more reassuring," before he wiped his forehead, "For a second there, I thought you might have been lying when you said you didn't want me to kill someone."

Vaporeon stared awkwardly and thought, 'Is this guy for real?' although she soon became disappointed when he sighed, "Anyway, it's cool that you think I'm worthy of being on your team, but even though I am a creature with powers, trust me, you don't want me on your team."

Vaporeon blinked and enquired, "What do you mean?" the cat sighing, "Look, you saw what was going on there, right? I was confronted by a group of humans. Humans! And I couldn't stand up to them! Think about it! If I was strong and had mastery over my powers, that would never happen!"

Vaporeon bit her lower lip nervously. Sure, she knew one human who was strong enough to take on creatures like her and had even heard of two others before him. But there was a reason only three humans in recorded history had such power.

The cat let out a sigh and said, "If I join you, I can guarantee you'd be doing all the work. You'd likely lose the first round all because I'm a nothing but a loser and a coward and a weakling."

As painful as it was to admit, Vaporeon realized he certainly had a point. But just as she was about to consider her efforts fruitless, her eyes sparkled while she thought, 'Oh my god, why didn't I see it right away? There's no doubt about it.'

For a split second, she could swear she saw a light shine down upon the cat before she clasped his hands and squealed, "You're the perfect partner for me!" the cat blinking and uttering, "Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Yes, I did, and all of that makes you perfect!" Vaporeon stated with a big grin, "Look, you might not have heard of me, but believe me when I say I'm a highly experienced hero! I've been in the business for three years and even qualified for the Hero Olympics! If you will have me as your partner, I promise that I will shape you into the warrior you were always meant to be!"

The cat stared blankly at her while she continued, "Aren't you sick to death of being picked on all the time!? Wouldn't you like to stand up to those bullies and not have to pay them!? Wouldn't you just love it if people actually respected you!?"

After a few seconds, the cat took a deep breath and sighed, "More than anything," Vaporeon's smile widening until he pried his hands away from hers and groaned, "But unfortunately, it can't happen. I'm really sorry about this, but you've mistaken me for someone with a spine. I don't even know what my powers are."

He then turned around and sighed, "Goodbye forever, Miss..." his eyes shifting back and forth until the fox stated, "It's Vaporeon," the cat replying, "Thank you, Miss Vaporeon, for the offer, but I can't accept this. So, yeah, goodbye."

With that in mind, he bolted off into the distance as Vaporeon held out her arm and squeaked, "WAIT!" before tears welled up in her eyes. In all of Tokyo, there was only one more option, and he was an emotional wreck. This just felt cruel now.

Even so, she took a deep breath and sighed, "You know what? That might be for the best, anyway. I mean, who am I to force someone like that into a situation like this? He has nothing to do with me. I'm just a stranger. What right do I have to make him enter a tournament?"

While the cat carried on, he took a deep breath and stopped in his tracks. He then looked back with a thoughtful look in his eyes before he shook his head and grunted, "No. Someone like her deserves a real fighter, someone who can compliment such skills. I don't even know what my powers are!"

But after a few seconds, he blinked and said, "But then again, she has a point. I mean, there's no way in Hell I'll be able to raise enough money to pay off those guys," looking at his paws and biting his lower lip, "If I could at least learn to stand up to them, I could strike fear into them."

He then smiled and added, "I could strike fear into anyone! If I could even make it through one round of that tournament, they'd never look down on me again! They'd see me as a true champion!"

With that in mind, he raced back toward the back of the tavern, hoping Vaporeon was still there. But of course, when he arrived, she was not. But just as he was about to give up, he noticed a staff member carry out a trash bag before he enquired, "Hey, sir, um, did you see a blue mermaid fox thing leave this area?"

The man turned to face him said, "Oh, yeah. I saw her out the window. She took off that way a minute ago," pointing south. Thus the cat smiled and bowed his head before he took off, thinking, 'Wait, did I just converse with that person and thank him without feeling nervous? Oh my god, I'm growing a spine already!' a big smile on his face while he pressed his paws against his mouth.

During this time, Hitmonchan and Gallade were both seated in a theatre watching the latest romantic drama. Both sat happily and shared a bucket of popcorn while Palkia sat near the back with tears in her eyes, sniffing, "Wow, this is so beautiful."

Vaporeon was just about to find herself a hotel when the cat caught up with her and poked her on the shoulder. However, he failed to realize his claw was out when he did so, thus the fox winced and grunted, "Hey, what the-!?"

But when she turned and spotted him, she forgot about the minor pain this dealt and uttered, "Oh, hello." She then bowed her head and sighed, "Look, um..." the cat replying, "Zeraora," the fox nodding and adding, "Zeraora, I'm sorry for all that stuff I said earlier. I shouldn't have tried to force you into something like that. I mean, if you partook in a tournament, you'd be up against foes far worse than those human bullies."

"That may be true, but I'm willing to try," Zeraora replied before Vaporeon continued, "I mean, the only reason I even wanted to-" her eyes wide with shock when she slowly inched her gaze toward him and uttered, "Um, what did you just say?"

Zeraora took a deep breath and stated, "I said I'm willing to try, because you're right. I was born with unique powers, powers I don't yet know, but powers nonetheless. I should be the one calling the shots, not a bunch of humans! Heck, if anything, all I need is someone who can help me master these powers, someone with experience, like you!"

Vaporeon's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Well, mark my words, Zeraora, I will make sure no one ever picks on you again!" placing a firm grip against his hands, "I promise to help you unlock your true potential!"

She then blinked and uttered, "By the way, why do you owe them so much anyway?" the cat sighing, "I caught them smoking indoors and reported them. They told me they'd make my entire life a living Hell if I didn't give them the money as compensation for the time they wasted being grounded."

Vaporeon took a deep breath and said, "You don't owe them anything. I'll make sure they realize that," a big grin on Zeraora's face. He already felt like he had just made the best choice of his life.

Meanwhile, Gallade and Hitmonchan were on their way to Machoke and Gardevoir's house. After all, since the condo suite the siblings used to share had been sold and the green man was family, there was no way his sister would let him and his wife pay to stay in a hotel.

But while they carried on, Palkia continued to follow them and wait for just the right moment to strike. And things could not have been more perfect when Gallade spotted a small child standing in front of an alley and trembling. Thus he approached the kid and asked, "Hey, what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I was walking my dog and he ran into that alley," the kid whimpered, "I want to go in there and get him, but there might be giant rats in there."

Gallade smiled sweetly, rested a hand on the boy's shoulder and said, "Come on, I'll go in there with you. If any giant rats attack us, I'll take care of it," showing off his arm blades while Hitmonchan clapped and said, "That's my hubby."

But just as Gallade entered the alleyway, it seemed that this was Palkia's chance. While one could only guess why Dialga wanted her to take out the boxer, hopefully this would not turn out as bad as it seemed.


	5. Chapter 5

Things seemed to be looking up for the heroes as they all finally had their teams set up. Vaporeon would be sure to register her and Zeraora the following day. But while this went on, it seemed as if Hitmonchan might be in danger.

Palkia smirked when she noticed the boxer all by herself. For a reason she could not quite comprehend, Dialga really wanted to make sure this particular fighter could not compete. With that in mind, Palkia quickly put on a cloak to hide herself and flew toward the boxer with her claws at the ready.

But just as she was about to strike, Hitmonchan gasped and swung her fist around. She managed to plant it right into the dragon's cheek before she growled, "Did you seriously think I'd fall for that!?"

She then proceeded to unload a barrage of punches into Palkia's gut while barking, "Who the hell do you think you are!?" At that moment, Gallade blinked, turned back and called, "Honey, are you okay!?"

Just as Hitmonchan sent another punch forward, Palkia swerved to the right and thought, 'Dammit, he's been alerted. Better make this quick. Dialga wanted me to spare him,' thus she unleashed her claws and covered them in a pink aura.

With that, she swung her claws hard against Hitmonchan's chest. This allowed her to slash open the boxer's tunic as she coughed up blood and passed out, the dragon vacating the area just in time for Gallade to exit the alleyway along with the little boy he had helped and his dog.

The green man panted heavily with a look of terror in his eyes. The boy looked down and asked, "Is she alright?" Gallade kneeling down and whimpering, "Come on, Hitmonchan. You're okay, right? Please tell me you're okay."

Unfortunately, this one slash had knocked her out cold, thus he realized he had no choice but to call for an ambulance. He could not believe it. Similar things had happened to those close to him during the last team tournament, and while this was not nearly as bad as when his friend, Masquerain, received brain damage, this was still awful.

Drizzile and Rillaboom just happened to be nearby as they simply felt the need to look around Tokyo. After all, this was their first time here, so they wanted to experience as much of it as possible before they devoted the rest of the week to training.

Palkia spotted them at that moment, thus she looked at them and thought, 'Wait, didn't Dialga say this whole thing was to prevent those two from fighting together? Why was that again?'

She then looked back to a conversation they had in private after Beedrill closed the sign up booth. Dialga took a deep breath and explained, "Just like that bunny and mermaid, I sense a really strong connection between those two. On top of that, I've finally figured out who they are."

"Wait, you know them?" Palkia enquired, the blue dragon nodding and grunting, "They along with that rabbit are the three heroes of Edmonton who used teamwork to get three gods to surrender roughly three years ago. I can't believe I forgot about that. It was in every one of Hero Planet's newspapers for over a month. If those two fight as a team, they might actually stand a chance against us. I doubt they will, but I can't take my chances."

"So do you want me to take out the gorilla?" Palkia asked only for Dialga to reply, "Hold on. I never said I didn't want a chance to fight them in this tournament. If we can defeat all three of those heroes, it'll feel beyond satisfying, but much like the rabbit, I want that lizard and ape to team up with people they have never fought alongside before. They'd only have a week to come up with combinations and battle tactics, and that's nowhere near long enough."

"Okay, I think I get it," Palkia replied, "So what do you want me to do?" Dialga grinning and replying, "Well, something I discovered online earlier is that green one with sharp forearms, Gallade, is a huge inspiration to that lizard. I imagine if he doesn't have a partner, that lizard will most likely leave the ape's side and join him in the tournament instead, leaving her with no choice but to find someone else herself. I'm not completely sure if this plan will work, but this is the only method I can think of to pull this off."

Palkia felt like there was a lot wrong with this plan, but at the same time, Dialga had a point. If anything, heroes with the power to stand up to gods would likely be a much bigger threat than even the ultra beasts. Although because the newspapers did not mention the full context behind that match and how the gods had deliberately held back and more or less allowed the heroes to come out on top, neither dragon realized that they still probably would have stood a chance anyway.

With that in mind, she cleared her throat and exclaimed in a higher pitch, "Oh my god, did you hear!? Gallade's partner has been badly injured and won't be able to compete in the tournament!" adding in a lower voice, "Man, that sucks. I hope he can find himself a good replacement."

Drizzile's eyes widened as he turned to Rillaboom and uttered, "Did you hear that?" The gorilla nodded and gave him a smile before she asked, "You wanna go check it out?"

The chameleon nodded before he and the gorilla sprinted off, Palkia watching this from a distance and thinking, 'Wow, that actually worked. Well, here's hoping Dialga's right about this.'

Drizzile and Rillaboom both ran toward the scene where an ambulance had just pulled up. Gallade was just about to enter the vehicle when the chameleon approached him and asked, "What happened here?"

Gallade turned and said, "Oh, you're friends with Blaziken's new tag team partner," Rillaboom and Drizzile both turning to one-another in shock. Why had Scorbunny not texted them about this? Whatever the case, they were certainly happy for her, but this did not distract them from the incident that just took place.

Gallade realized that too, thus he sighed, "I don't completely know myself. I heard Hitmonchan yelling words that implied she was in a fight with someone. But by the time I came to check up on her, she was unconscious with big scratches along her chest. I just hope she'll be okay."

Drizzile bit his lower lip and enquired, "I know you don't really know us, but can we come with?" Gallade about to question this. However, right now, he could certainly use the company, thus he nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance with them. Of course, he also made a conference call to his friends to let them know what just happened.

After the door closed, Drizzile and Rillaboom introduced themselves. And while both of them already knew Gallade, they simply allowed him to introduce himself anyway. Sure, he was well known, so he likely would not have found it too weird for them to know him, but it still felt right.

During this time, Vaporeon walked to a rather small house that Zeraora lived in. The cat smiled and said, "Here we are. It's not much, but it's manageable." He then pulled out a key to unlock the door and allowed the fox to enter.

Vaporeon looked around and noticed something off. There was only one bedroom in this place. On top of that, she saw no one else living here. And when Zeraora noticed her expression, he could tell right away what she was thinking.

"Oh, yeah, probably should have told you earlier," he said, "My folks work in a different part of Japan. They send me a check every month to help pay for living expenses and school, but they never have time to come by and visit. But of course, I imagine with you being a Hero Planet graduate, you've probably been living on your own these last three years, eh?"

"Well, not exactly," Vaporeon replied, "I was supposed to live on my own, but then I got three allies and let them move in," not sure if she should even bother to bring up the fact that all three had proven themselves better than her up to this point.

She then took a deep breath and said, "Well, for the next week, I'll definitely keep you company, and I'm sure that once we're done, you'll be tough enough to stand up for yourself. And heck, you might even find that heroism is the perfect career for you."

Zeraora suddenly remembered his bed had not been made, thus he straightened out the sheets. But just as he was about to take a shower, he took a deep breath and asked, "Do you really think I'm good enough for this?"

Vaporeon shrugged and replied, "Well, maybe not right now, but by the time we're done, I can guarantee you'll be a fighting machine! We'll start with the basics then get to your elemental powers later. As long as we work at it hard enough, you can master even the most advanced of techniques within a week's time."

Zeraora smiled and replied, "Thank you so much, Vaporeon. I'll admit, up until now, I've only been living so my parents wouldn't worry about me. But, well, you've given me more of a purpose in life."

He then grinned and clenched his fists while he thought about how he would get his revenge on the bullies from school tomorrow. He knew better than to just outright injure them unless provoked, but he would at least try to frighten them with his new skills. After all, even the dumbest of humans knew better than to fight a hero, right?

After he entered the bathroom for a shower, Vaporeon smiled and allowed herself to fall backwards onto his bed. She could not have asked for better, though why specifically she wanted someone with little to no combat knowledge on her team was anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Gallade looked down after it was confirmed that Hitmonchan would be out of commission for at least a week and a half. Thus he let out a sigh and kissed her forehead, saying, "Rest well, sweetie."

It seemed highly unlikely that he would be able to compete, but right now, he was just glad that his darling wife was still alive. At the very least, he would still show up to watch his friends compete. After all, he knew Hitmonchan would want him to be at the stadium to cheer them on.

The green man walked over to Drizzile and Rillaboom, who were seated nearby, and said, "Hey, um, thanks for coming along. This actually made things less painful."

"Hey, it was no problem," Rillaboom replied with a nod, Drizzile unable to find the right words while Gallade sighed, "This is just awful. We were gonna fight together and actually make it past the first round! I know we couldn't possibly win the tournament, but still!"

He then chuckled, "Sorry. Ignore that. I just really had to let off some steam," before returning to Hitmonchan's side just to sit by her.

Drizzile bit his lower lip when Rillaboom stared back and forth between him and Gallade. She then thought hard about this situation before turning toward the chameleon who whimpered, "I really wanted to see him compete. Imagine how amazing it would have been to face him at some point."

After a few seconds, Rillaboom rested a hand on the chameleon's head and sighed, "I know exactly what you're thinking," Drizzile staring at her while she smiled and added, "Go on. This is a golden opportunity. You'd be a fool not to take it."

"But, Rillaboom," Drizzile uttered, "I can't. We're supposed to fight as a team," only for the gorilla to sigh, "Look, Drizzile, I'm fine, okay? If I can't find anyone, then I'll just cheer for you from the stands. There's, like, six of us in the tournament already. I don't think Shaymin needs all of us to take down Palkia and Dialga."

Tears welled up in Drizzile's eyes as he quivered his lip and sniffed, "Oh my god, you are the best!" before he gave the gorilla a tight hug. Rillaboom's eyes widened and nearly popped out of their sockets until he let go and approached Gallade.

"Damn, he really has gotten tough," the gorilla uttered while the chameleon stood next to Gallade and tensed up. He had been surprisingly calm and collective before, but just the idea that he might very well team up with his own idol made him feel tense.

After a few seconds, though, he took a deep breath and asked, "Hey, Gallade, I know now might not be the best time to ask, but have you thought about who you'll team up with?"

The green man thought about this and replied, "Well, now that you mention it, yeah, and right now, my best options might be either Hitmonlee or Hitmontop. But even then, both of them decided that they wanted to stay home for this. They already tried entering before, and after Hoopa cheated and knocked them out of the elimination round, they've decided it's not for them. I don't wanna force them into this, you know?"

He then groaned, "But of course, I don't wanna drop out either. I didn't think about this before, but you know, it just occurred to me. If I drop out of the competition because of this, Hitmonchan will blame herself for it."

The green man clutched onto the sides of his head and whimpered, "She'd beat herself up constantly, saying things like 'Why couldn't I stand up for myself!? I'm a failure of a wife! I don't deserve someone as great and handsome as Gallade!'"

And while the wording may have sounded pompous, Hitmonchan was the kind of person to think all of that stuff. And when Drizzile saw just how desperate Gallade was, he took a deep breath and said, "I'll do it."

Gallade turned to him before he gave him a serious look and added, "I'll be your tag team partner," only for the green man to stare at him, "Oh, and don't worry about Rillaboom. She encouraged me to volunteer."

This certainly made Gallade happy at first, but after a few seconds, he shook his head and remarked, "No, that's insane. I really appreciate that, Drizzile, but you don't want me as your partner. Have you heard about my reputation?" the chameleon replying, "Yes. I've heard about how in your entire career on Earth, you've lost more matches than anyone else who was stationed in Tokyo. And yes, I also know that you've only ever beaten two villains in combat."

"Uh, actually, I've only defeated one," Gallade replied before Drizzile tensed up and remembered that in this time, the green man had not yet faced his final opponent. But right now, that hardly mattered when Gallade sighed, "See? I'm even more pathetic than you think I am. Are you taking pity on me?"

"No," Drizzile remarked before he stood up with a serious look in his eyes, "Gallade, it's been my dream to fight alongside you! Believe you me, there was a time when I was a loser just like you, and I was even worse! I lacked so much confidence that I couldn't even really hurt my opponents!"

Gallade stared in stunned silence while the chameleon added, "But I've gotten a lot better since then. In fact, I'm actually w-" suddenly stopping himself before saying, "I mean, I was first place in a tournament back home. And you saw that big cyborg with me? He was once a villain, and I was the one who defeated him and convinced him to become good."

"Wow, that's incredible," Gallade uttered, "But if you're that amazing, why would you ever dream of teaming up with me?" the chameleon explaining, "Because you were my inspiration. When I finally defeated a villain, I was motivated by your reputation, how even though you've barely won any matches on Earth, you've never given up. You've always fought your best, even when you knew the odds were stacked against you."

As soon as he heard that, Gallade let down a light tear. In all his years as a hero, no one had ever acknowledged that. He had spent so long as the butt of so many jokes. He had even taken multiple jabs at his own lack of success. And yet for the first time, someone other than Gardevoir took the time to acknowledge just how much effort he always put in.

"That's why I want to fight alongside you," Drizzile stated, "You're my hero," turning to face Gallade and noticing the biggest most childish grin on his face. He was even more shocked when the green man rested his hands on his shoulders and exclaimed, "Yes, Drizzile! I'll do it! I'll be your partner!"

Drizzile's eyes sparkled as he could not believe it. As if Scorbunny being Blaziken's partner was not enough, now he was going to fight alongside his idol as well. This all seemed like a dream that he did not wish to end anytime soon.

Rillaboom overheard this and smiled before thinking, 'Still, I'd hate to be left out,' before gasping, "Oh, that's right! Vaporeon! She doesn't have a partner, does she!?"

She then pulled out her phone and called up the fox who answered and said, "Oh, hey, Rillaboom. What's up?"

The gorilla was about to answer before she heard a voice in the background ask Vaporeon who she was talking to. The fox stated that she was talking to a friend before the gorilla enquired, "Who's there with you?"

"Oh, right, I completely forgot to text you guys!" Vaporeon squealed with a big grin, "You'll never guess where I am right now. I'm in the home of my new tag team partner!"

Rillaboom's eyes and mouth widened while the fox continued, "Isn't this great!? We can all compete now!" And while the gorilla was disappointed at first, she was also happy for Vaporeon. As such, she took a deep breath, smiled and said, "Oh, thank god. I'm not gonna lie. When I heard Scorbunny had teamed up with Blaziken, I thought for sure you'd be left out."

The two talked for a little while longer before Vaporeon asked Zeraora if he wanted to talk to her friend. However, he felt a touch nervous, thus she said, "Well, you'll meet him soon. He's a little shy now, but wait'll you see him come tournament day."

After another minute, Rillaboom said a quick goodbye and hung up. She had not even brought up the fact that Drizzile had a new partner. After all, the last thing the gorilla wanted was to guilt-trip any of her friends. It had been her idea for the chameleon to team up with Gallade, anyway.

At that moment, Machoke and the others entered the area. Gardevoir immediately raced to Gallade's side and gave him a tight embrace without warning. The green man's eyes widened briefly before he smiled and reached his hand up, patting his sister on the shoulder.

"I am so sorry!" she sniffed while Gallade sighed, "No, I feel like this wouldn't have happened if I'd been more attentive."

While Scorbunny stood outside with the others, she turned toward Rillaboom and uttered, "Oh, hey, Rillaboom. I didn't think you'd be here," the gorilla chuckling, "Well, it was an urgent situation. Not to mention a certain someone really wanted to comfort his idol."

The rabbit turned toward the entrance to see Drizzile next to Gallade, saying, "Wow, I guess some good came out of this after all," the gorilla nodding and replying, "Yep. They'll make for a great team, I'm sure of it."

The rabbit's eyes widened as she turned to face the chameleon. Blaziken had overheard this, thus she smiled and thought, 'Well, look at that. He's already found himself a new partner. I know that's what Hitmonchan would want.'

With that in mind, she approached Machoke, patted him on the shoulder and whispered what she had just heard to him. Thus he and the chicken entered the room and introduced themselves to the chameleon. And after he told them his name, Gallade smiled wide and stated, "This guy right here wanted me above all others as his partner! He said I'm his hero!"

Gardevoir beamed bright and squealed, "Wow, that's so cool!" Drizzile grinning nervously and uttering, "Yeah. He's a big part of the reason I'm where I am today," thinking, 'Though Allie certainly had a bigger influence, but maybe I shouldn't mention that.'

Needless to say, Machoke and Blaziken were astounded by this. But they were also beyond happy for him. All they could really hope was that Drizzile would make for a good ally, much like how they hoped Scorbunny would be a great partner for Blaziken.

At that moment, Machoke's eyes widened when he heard a high-pitched voice gasp, "Hey, I came as soon as I could!" the reptilian man turning around to spot a short purple monkey with a big white hand on the tip of her tail.

Thus he smiled and said, "Hey, Aipom," the monkey returning the gesture while Rillaboom stared and thought, 'Oh yeah, she was Machoke's mentor for almost a year. When those two met for the first time, she was only ten, yet it was said that she was a total genius when it came to combat. Not only that, but she and Machoke even teamed up for the third round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament back in the day.'

Aipom looked over Hitmonchan's condition and sighed, "This brings back painful memories," the others nodding as Blaziken sighed, "I just hope it wasn't another villain who snuck into the tournament. Seriously, how many times did that happen in the last one?"

Drizzile blinked and thought, 'So it's true. That really was a common thing back then,' before Gallade grinned and said, "Hey, on the upside, check out my awesome new tag team partner!" resting his hand on the chameleon's shoulder and pulling him close.

Drizzile's entire body turned beet red in response to this while Aipom bowed and said, "It's very nice to meet you," the chameleon and Scorbunny soon introduced. While it was certainly odd that Blaziken and Gallade would just allow two strangers to team up with them, the monkey was happy for them.

While Rillaboom waited outside, Drizzile and Gallade explained the whole situation and how the chameleon had essentially left his partner. Drizzile then sighed, "I still feel kinda bad about this. I know for a fact that Rillaboom would love to compete in the tournament, and it just means so much that she would give that up for me. I just hope she can find a new partner before the remaining spots are filled."

Aipom looked out the entrance to the room at the gorilla when Machoke shifted his eyes up toward the ceiling, tapped the monkey on the head and uttered, "You know, I think Aipom here knows a perfect someone to take on that role."

Aipom turned to face him before he winked at her. A big smile formed on her face before she nodded and gave him a thumb up. And when Scorbunny and Drizzile saw this, both were confused until Aipom walked over to Rillaboom and said, "Hey, Rillaboom, was it? I'm Aipom."

She then extended her tail hand forward before Rillaboom shook it and chuckled, "Oh yeah, I know who you are. The greatest trainer in history, right?"

As soon as the monkey heard that, her entire face turned red like a tomato. In all her years, the only one who had ever called her that was Machoke. She did not even realize she was that well-known despite the fact that she had merchandise based off of her.

"Well, I guess is you think so highly of me, you'd be happy to take me as your tag team partner, eh?" Aipom enquired with a cute grin on her face.

Rillaboom's eyes were wide with shock when she heard that. A part of her could not help but feel as if Drizzile had talked her into it, but she could not have been more grateful. If anything, fighting alongside the one who shaped Machoke into one powerful enough to defeat the mighty Giratina was the best thing she could have asked for.

With that in mind, she smiled, cupped her hands together, bowed her head and said, "It would be an honour to fight alongside you."

And with all said and done, it seemed that all of the heroes from the future had tag team partners. Sure, only half of them had chosen to team up with each other, but this was certainly exciting. But would these pairings work out in their favour or was Dialga's hunch right? Only time would tell.


	6. Chapter 6

Note: As you can probably imagine, Smeargle having three tails is something that's explained in the first story, or more specifically, the direct continuation, The Ultimate World Team Tournament.

Six days remained until the tournament would begin and the heroes from the future along with Tokyo's former protectors had their teams. And of course, they were all prepared to face Dialga and Palkia if the situation called for it. They may have had no surefire way to expose them, but as long as the dragons were defeated, that was all that mattered.

Shaymin and Melmetal were hard at work in a highly advanced training facility. Luckily, Shaymin had brought a ton of money with her and had even exchanged it for yen, thus she was able to rent out the entire building.

While she and the cyborg trained, he looked around and said, "You know, at first I thought renting the entire building seemed excessive, but we got a lot of space in here now. Good job, Miss Chairwoman, I mean Shaymin."

The hedgehog giggled and squealed, "Well, I do run Hero Planet's government in the future, so nothing's too much for me!" a proud grin on her face.

Morgrem and Rolycoly, meanwhile, were off in the mountains. Both used various rocks as practice dummies to try their team moves on. And they seemed to be more than ready when Morgrem lifted up a rock and leaned backward before Rolycoly rose up behind it, grabbed onto it and threw his arms down to add to the force of the slam.

Afterwards, Morgrem leapt onto Rolycoly's back and held onto his arms like motorcycle handles. The golem then sped toward a large boulder before propelling himself off the ground. Both spun around like a twister and exclaimed, "GRIZZLY CHOPPER!"

It was at this exact moment they realized exactly why this would not work, Morgrem's eyes wide with terror when they rammed into the rock and fell backward. The goblin pushed herself up, rubbed the back of her head and sighed while looking down. For most of her life, she had used a long lock of hair as a blade, but a long time ago, a wolf named Zacian had sliced it off. And to make matters worse, that part of her hair never grew back.

As such, she was no longer able to use her blade-based techniques. This would make things especially tough as that one lock of hair was the source of almost all of her signature moves.

Rolycoly noticed this and let out a sigh. He then rubbed her shoulders and said, "Hey, don't look so down. You can still kick ass even without that sharp hair of yours."

Morgrem nodded and uttered, "Right, of course," biting her lower lip. As much as she wanted to be confident, she was not so sure of that.

Either way, there was no way she would back down. After all, she was with Rolycoly. Even though they had never won a team match together in their lives, she had a feeling they could win at least one this time. Or at least she wanted to more than anything.

Of course, Scorbunny and Blaziken trained really hard together. When the chicken saw the rabbit's other abilities, she was beyond impressed. And it did not take long for her to come up with all sorts of combo moves. After all, when her partner fought with a similar style, such a thing was easy.

When Gallade saw Drizzile's powers in action, he knew he had made the right choice choosing him to be his partner. And Aipom was certainly happy to fight alongside Rillaboom. Unlike when she teamed up with Machoke, she was not quite as dead-set on victory, but she would still do her absolute best regardless. After all, she did the same thing when Garchomp forced her to be her partner in a three-legged race. And when the monkey saw the gorilla's Rose Bush Boulder, she knew exactly how to work with that.

Although the one with the most focus was Vaporeon who had Zeraora unleash a barrage of punches on a punching bag in a gym that had no other clients today. She watched him deliver an onslaught only to notice that his swings were sloppy. In fact, despite the target not even moving, he wound up missing with almost every attempt due to the fact that his eyes were closed for this.

Vaporeon took a deep breath and said, "Okay, first step to being a fighter. You can't be afraid of your opponents. If you are, it'll throw you off significantly. Now, strike the bag with your eyes open," Zeraora nodding and uttering, "Right, of course."

He once again swung his fists forward, this time keeping his eyes open when he punched the bag. However, he found himself intimidated when it swung back and forth, thus he stopped his assault and held up his forearms defensively. Vaporeon pinched her forehead and grumbled curses under her breath. She had a feeling it would be difficult to train someone like this, but to think he could not even pull off something as simple as a barrage of punches.

As such, she took a deep breath and said, "Alright, you're at least able to swing a punch. I guess that's okay for now. But can you pull off slam moves?"

Zeraora blinked as she pulled out a sandbag and said, "Lift this up and deliver a suplex," the cat tapping his chin before asking, "What's a suplex?"

Vaporeon's eyes and mouth were wide open with shock. How could anyone be this uninformed? Even people who had never watched a fight before knew what a suplex was. It was one of the most well-known wrestling techniques of all time.

Even so, she breathed in and out, thinking, 'No, this is good. This just means that when he inevitably becomes a powerhouse, I can honestly say I taught him everything he knows,' gritting her teeth while her eye twitched, 'Literally everything he knows.'

With that in mind, she walked over to the sandbag and said, "Do what I do," wrapping her arms around the sides before she lifted it up, leaned backward and slammed the top of it into the floor.

Zeraora tensed up and uttered, "I could break my back doing that!" only for Vaporeon to utter, "But you're a cat. Aren't you supposed to be super flexible?"

The cat stared briefly and blinked before he rested his hand behind his head and laughed, "Oh, of course! How silly of me! I've always been able to bend my back far! Thanks for reminding me!"

The fox tried her hardest not to let this get to her while she watched him grab hold of the sandbag. But while he managed to pick it up, he panicked after bending backwards and released his hold. This allowed the bag to fall on top of him as he forced it off of him and panted heavily. He then bit his lower lip and said, "Don't worry. I'll keep trying until I get it. I'm sure I can do it."

As such, he continued to try over and over again while Vaporeon's eye twitched. As such, she attempted to have him perform a variety of other moves, such as kicks, elbows and piledrivers. And yet he could not get any of them down. She even resorted to having him try scratching the punching bag and he could barely even pull that off.

When the fox saw this, she was truly at a loss for words. How could a feline be this incapable of scratching? While Vaporeon had always been nice and friendly up to this point, she had just about lost patience. She could not help but think Zeraora might have been right before.

As a result, she could no longer control herself as she snapped, "OH MY GOD, ARE YOU DOING THIS ON PURPOSE!?" Zeraora staring at her while she grunted, "No wonder you get picked on so much! You're so much of a literal fraidy-cat that you can't even do the most basic things! Screw figuring out how to control your element! I bet if you knew how to use it, you'd probably end up hurting yourself with it!"

Zeraora's eyes were wide with shock while a light tear formed in his eye. Thus Vaporeon clasped her hands over her mouth and gasped, "Oh my god, I am so sorry!" before rubbing her temple, "I'm just a little stressed right now. Keep practising while I clear my, uh, head."

She then raced out of the room while Zeraora watched her. He lowered his head and turned toward the exit, figuring it might be best if he just accept his punishment from the bullies tonight. But just as he was about to leave, he turned toward the punching bag and furled his brow. He then clenched his hands into a fist and raced toward it.

Vaporeon sat in the bathroom and breathed heavily. She looked up at the ceiling light and thought, 'Oh my god, what is wrong with me? I wanted someone I could teach for a change, just like when my parents taught me how to fight. How did they have the patience to deal with me back in the day?'

She then looked back to when she was seven and just starting to learn how to fight. While she was relatively good at delivering karate chops and the like, she was terrible at everything else. Even the simple task of whipping an opponent with her tail eluded her since every time she tried, she would wind up either tripping herself or missing the target completely.

It had taken her a long time, but she was still able to pull it off. And during all of it, her parents never gave up on her or stopped being supportive. Even when she would break things during exercises, they never got mad. They always told her to train at her own pace.

With that in mind, Vaporeon took a deep breath and exited the bathroom, saying, "Zeraora, I'm-" her eyes wide with shock when she saw him deliver an onslaught of scratches to the punching bag. And while he did so, tiny sparks of electricity formed around his claws.

After a while, he panted heavily as the bag was now covered in claw marks. Sure, he had not dealt a whole lot of damage to it, but it was still something. Even so, his form had not been perfect. He had swiped his arms around blindly without any real sense of direction, but it was a vast improvement.

This was all Vaporeon needed to see, thus she smiled and said, "Good job. It could have used a little work, but hey, baby steps."

Zeraora blinked and turned to face her. He then looked back to the punching bag and spat, "OH MY GOD, DID I DO ALL OF THAT!?" his eyes sparkling while he uttered, "Oh my god, did I do all of that?"

"Yes, you did," Vaporeon replied with a smile before taking a seat, "Hey, Zeraora, I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. It's just, well, you're not the only one experiencing something for the first time today. While this is your first time training to fight, this is my first time teaching someone. I guess I just expected better results too quickly."

The cat took it all in and nodded before she uttered, "I promise I don't normally get angry that easily," Zeraora sighing, "Yeah, you didn't really strike me as the angry type before. And to be fair, it is kind of pathetic that I can't even get something as simple as a punch down. But, well, I guess what motivated me to do all of that was just the fact that, well, you actually seem to believe in me. When you lost your temper, I felt like I had let you down, so I figured I had to keep trying until I got something right."

Vaporeon grinned and replied, "Well, again, it needs work, but what I saw was pretty good. I noticed you even managed to unleash your element."

"Wait, I did?" Zeraora uttered with his eyes wide open, the fox nodding and saying, "Yep. While you were scratching that punching bag, sparks flew from your claws."

The cat stared blankly before he uttered, "Wow." He then held his claws up in front of his face and added, "That must make me an electric type," Vaporeon lowering her eyelids and thinking, 'Seriously? He actually didn't know what his element was even with all those lightning bolts on his body?'

Even so, the fox refused to say that out loud at this point. While her outburst may have motivated Zeraora to try harder, she still felt bad about it. As such, she simply smiled sweetly.

She then took a deep breath and said, "We can take a break for now, but now that I know you can use a few good scratches, we can start with some other moves. Believe me, you're gonna need them later tonight." Zeraora stared at her for a few seconds before he remembered what she meant and narrowed his eyelids.

With all said and done, the cat only took a short break before he went back to the same training he had attempted before. Now with his new motivation, he was finally able to pull off various strikes. While it may have been too early to attempt really advanced slam moves, he was at least able to pull off kicks, punches and headbutts.

And after quite a few attempts, he had also managed to pull off a suplex. Sure, it was not exactly hard enough to cause any real damage, but he figured if he worked at it enough, he would eventually be able to show the right amount of force he needed. Of course, Vaporeon could not have been more proud right now.

Later that evening, Zeraora and Vaporeon both headed to the area where they first met. The cat took a deep breath and marched toward the tavern's back alley before he noticed Vaporeon stop in her tracks. As such, he followed suit and turned to face her.

"What's wrong?" he enquired only for the fox to fold her arms and state, "This is as far as I go. I'll watch from a distance, but you have to confront this issue on your own."

While the cat had been confident before, now he was not so sure. He was no longer using moves on a punching bag. These were real opponents. Sure, his plan was just to instill fear in them, but what if that failed? What if they actually attacked him and stuffed him in the dumpster?

Unfortunately, he had no time to think about this when he noticed a set of cold stares within the shadows. Thus he gulped nervously and slowly made his way forward, the tall boy from before standing before him with his hands in his pockets. He gazed upon the cat, smirked and asked, "So, you got the money?"

Zeraora let out another gulp and thought, 'Come on, pull it together. He's a human, a measly, weak human. You're better than him in every way, shape and form.'

With that in mind, he clenched his fists, gritted his teeth and growled, "No, I don't," the boy holding his hand up to his ear and asking, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Did you say no?"

The other teens pounded their fists against their palms while Zeraora snapped, "Yeah, you heard that right! I don't have the money! But even if I did, I wouldn't give it to a bunch of hoodlums like you!"

The tall boy took a deep breath, shrugged his shoulders and remarked, "It's a crying shame. We really didn't wanna do this," all of them advancing forward only for Zeraora to hold up his fists defensively. The teens hesitated briefly only to break out into hysterics seconds later, a girl exclaiming, "Oh man, look at that! The kitten thinks it can intimidate us!"

Their laughter lasted a few seconds longer before the tall boy wiped a tear from his eye and sighed, "Hey, thanks for that. I didn't know you could be so funny. Almost makes me wanna take a hundred yen off of what you owe us."

He made his way over to Zeraora and added, "Almost." But when he reached out to grab Zeraora by the arm, his eyes widened when the cat lifted up his free paw, took hold of the human's hand and lightly jabbed his claws into his wrist.

The tall boy stared silently before Zeraora started to twist his arm and growled, "I'm not taking your shit anymore, Akio! I did nothing wrong, therefor I do not deserve this treatment! Now leave me alone before I tare your arm off!"

The tall boy let down nervous sweat while the other teens trembled. But after a few seconds, he forced a smirk and grunted, "Alright, go ahead, tare my arm off!"

"Um, Akio, maybe you shouldn't provoke him," another boy uttered only for the tall boy to retort, "He's clearly bluffing! This guy is a loser! He may look like the heroes you hear about on the news, but he's just a timid wittle fwaidy-cat!"

Zeraora took a deep breath, latched his other hand to the same wrist and flipped Akio over his shoulder. When the boy's back hit the pavement, his eyes widened before the cat placed his foot on his gut and growled, "Well, do you give up now!?"

"Yes, yes!" Akio cried, "I give! I give! Please let me go!" And when Zeraora saw tears well up in his eyes, he released his hold and removed his foot. Thus the tall boy backed away, rose up to his feet and fled from the area, his friends following suit.

Zeraora stood there with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide open. He took many deep breaths, looked at his paws and uttered, "I don't believe it," a big grin forming on his face, "I did it! I actually did it!"

Vaporeon stepped out from behind a corner and clapped while she approached him. She then patted him on the shoulder and said, "You sure did. And come next week, you'll perform much bigger feats against stronger opponents!"

The cat smiled at the fox and stated, "You know, after that, I actually believe I can." He then held her in a tight embrace, her eyes wide with shock as he added, "Thank you so much, Vaporeon! I never would have attempted anything like that if it weren't for you!"

After a few seconds, a light smile formed on Vaporeon's face before she wrapped her arms around him. There was no doubt in her mind, now. She and the cat would rise to the top for sure. Although she seemed to have forgotten that the plan was to take down Dialga and Palkia, not win the whole tournament.

And sure enough, for the remainder of the week, all of the teams worked diligently to perfect their moves and teamwork. Shaymin found that Melmetal was a surprisingly good match for her despite the massive size difference between them.

The other teams improved greatly as well, though while Zeraora had certainly gotten the hang of fighting, there was one problem. Within that time, he had not figured out how he managed to get sparks to fly from his claws. In fact, he had not used a single electric move since that moment.

By the sixth day, the final spot had been filled by a blue dog with a cream coloured torso and black markings named Lucario. On his chest was a white hole where he used to have a spike before a villain named Absol cut it off.

His partner was a small blue pistol shrimp named Clauncher. As soon as they signed up, the dog breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Well, look at that, we made it just in time."

The shrimp nodded and replied, "Didn't I tell you we had nothing to worry about?" before uttering, "Though still, we did pretty much show up at the last minute. I think some of Machoke's luck has finally rubbed off on you."

Lucario blinked and uttered, "You're right. This is totally the kind of miracle he'd pull off," a smile forming on his face as he added, "I hope I get to face him at some point. He may have beaten me in a sparring match, but so far, we still haven't had a proper rematch since I became Olympic champion."

Soon enough, the next day came. Many assembled at Nissan stadium and made sure to be there by eleven thirty. After all, the main event started at noon and they all wanted to be there nice and early to get the best seats.

Beedrill and Butterfree were both seated behind a podium along with a middle-aged woman named Nori. She beamed bright and squealed, "I'm so excited! It's been too long since I announced one of these!" Beedrill patting her on the shoulder and chuckling, "Not only that, but you get to see Machoke and Gardevoir in action again."

"Um, why would that matter to me?" Nori uttered only for Butterfree to sigh, "Everyone knows you're their biggest fan. Literally everyone."

The woman laughed nervously and sighed. Thus she suddenly removed her top to reveal a T-shirt underneath with a picture of Machoke and Gardevoir kissing. Both bugs stared awkwardly at this before Beedrill remembered he had no right to judge her off of this. After all, he was a pretty big fan of Machoke as well.

Once everyone was seated and noon came along, though, he implied a smile and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the third Ultimate World Team Tournament!" the crowd cheering wildly, "The last one was really exciting, but we hope this one is even more exciting!"

"We also hope that no villains have snuck into the competition again," Butterfree sighed, "Seriously, we need a way to figure these things out in advance," Nori chuckling, "Anyway, without further ado, let's meet the teams, shall we!?"

And so, the area erupted with cheers and applause when the heroes entered the field and stood tall and proud. Scorbunny had a big open-mouth smile on her face while she waved to the crowd, Machoke and Gardevoir both doing the same while also blowing kisses. After all, it had been four years since they last received this kind of attention.

Blaziken grinned and waved while she thought, 'Just you wait, Machoke. With my awesome new partner, I'll be world champion this time,' Gallade holding his fists in the air along with Drizzile.

Needless to say, the audience was certainly intrigued by the rabbit and chameleon. After all, they had never seen either of these two before, so they could not help but wonder what they were capable of and why two of Tokyo's heroes would choose them.

Though what shocked the audience even more was not only Aipom actually joining but also having teamed up with another hero none of them had ever heard of. Rillaboom held the monkey up on her shoulder and waved while Aipom did the same with her tail hand.

"Wow, this is so cool!" the monkey squealed, "This is so much better than when I joined Machoke for the Olympic opening ceremony!" Rillaboom blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah, I read about that. Didn't you both dress up as Brazilian dancers?"

Aipom nodded and sighed, "Now that you mention it, I still have the outfit," before smiling at Machoke and thinking, 'Still, as embarrassing as his entrances usually are, they've always helped to relieve stress.'

Of course, there were plenty of others who received all sorts of attention. Lucario was among the most popular heroes in the world, so of course he received a huge round of applause along with Clauncher. Another pair to get that kind of feedback was a green dinosaur-like insect named Scyther and the orange falcon, Talonflame.

Along with that were the dark-blue dragon, Garchomp and the silver dinosaur, Lairon. Next to them stood a red and black knight with white gloves and an axe on his forehead named Bisharp. His partner was the orange gecko with a red Mohawk, Scrafty.

There was also a white and brown beagle with three tails that had pen tips on their ends named Smeargle and his wife, a tall slender flower girl with a white upper body and a green lower body. With a red ornate bouquet around her neck, she was Florges, a famous singer from Paris. There was also a blue kabuto with tape around the middle of his horn named Heracross and a brown rabbit named Lopunny. The grey sylph, Diancie, also stood next to her partner, a red, white and green parrot who resembled a luchador named Hawlucha.

As soon as all of them saw Machoke and his friends, they smiled and nodded their heads at him while he returned the gesture. He hoped to face at least one of those teams since they were all good friends of his.

Dialga and Palkia stood among the crowd while the blue dragon grinned and said, "This is too perfect. All these heroes have gathered and by the time this is over, a total of eight will fall to us. That's good enough for me."

And of course, this was only a small sample. Although Shaymin, Melmetal, Morgrem and Rolycoly did not get much attention. After all, not only did no one in this time line have a reason to know them, they were not teamed up with anyone famous. But while the hedgehog seemed annoyed by this despite how much sense it made, Rolycoly simply smiled and said, "They may not be cheering for us yet, but they will be."

Morgrem nodded with a light grin and uttered, "Yeah, of course," the golem once again concerned. He was not used to the goblin being this unsure of herself. It was usually her giving him confidence.

But of course, Zeraora looked at the huge crowd along with all the other heroes and tensed up. He then trembled and uttered, "You know, Vaporeon, I'm starting to have second thoughts," only for the fox to pat him on the shoulder and sigh, "It'll be okay."

"Are you sure about that?" the cat enquired, "I still haven't mastered one electric move," Vaporeon replying, "Yeah, but you've gotten everything else down pretty well. You see my friend over there, Rillaboom?" pointing at the gorilla in question.

Zeraora blinked as he said, "Oh yeah, I haven't met your friends yet," Vaporeon explaining, "She actually didn't know how to use any grass type moves for a while. In fact, she didn't even have any signature moves. And yet before she finally mastered a few, she won the most matches out of all of my allies back home."

The cat's eyes sparkled as he uttered, "No way," a big open-mouth smile forming while he held up his fists with excitement, "That means I could be like her someday! That's incredible!"

Vaporeon nodded and said, "Right now, we'll just focus on making it through the first event."

Although she was curious as to what it was. After all, tournament rules dictated that there always had to be a total of sixteen teams in the fighting portion itself. Before that, there was always to be at least one elimination round. In the previous team tournament, it was a mountain climbing race. One could only guess what Beedrill had in mind this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: I did point this out in the last one, but just in case any of you decided to read this before that one, during this first part, I'm employing a tactic where each time I cut to a certain fight, I'm essentially turning back time to show what happened while all the others took place.

The crowd's excitement was at an all-time high when Beedrill stated, "Now, many of you are probably curious as to why we only allowed for thirty two teams to compete instead of, well, a whole bunch like last time. Well, it's because of an idea our new advisers, Dialga and Palkia thought up."

He then directed everyone's attention toward the dragons who waved while Shaymin scowled at them and growled, "Whatever they came up with can't be any good," Melmetal nodding and replying, "Yeah, but we can handle it, right?"

The hedgehog grinned at him and nodded before Butterfree explained, "You see, unlike the last tournament, we'll actually have a fight in every single round! Yep, we'll still stick to the sixteen finalist teams tradition, but the elimination round will actually serve as, well, technically the first round of the fighting portion!"

The crowd and heroes were beyond confused, thus Beedrill sighed, "Basically, it doesn't really count as the first round since it's still treated as more of a sporting event, but the general idea is that all sixteen matches will take place in one round. You know what? Maybe I should just show you what I mean."

He then nodded at Nori who pressed a button and caused a labyrinth to rise up from under the ground in front of the heroes. At the end of it were sixteen exits with a wrestling ring outside of each one, all of them separated by big dividing walls. As soon as the crowd saw that, they got a general idea of what it meant.

"The basic idea is that all thirty two teams will race through the maze before reaching one of sixteen exits," Beedrill explained, "Once two teams exit through one of them, a door will close and seal it off so no other team and pass through, and the two teams that went through that particular door will face off in the ring outside of it. The sixteen teams left standing will move onto the official first round."

Shaymin folded her arms and sighed, "I hate to admit it, but that's actually a cool idea," Melmetal patting her on the head while implying a supportive smile with his eye.

Machoke grinned and said, "We're gonna be the first to fight, eh, honey?" Gardevoir nodding with a big smile while Lucario thought, 'I'll make sure I get to the same exit as Machoke.'

Everyone else was more than ready, but of course, those from the future were all fixated on one thing. Would any of them pass through the same exit as Dialga and Palkia?

Shaymin narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Yeah, this is it. We'll make it out the same exit and face them after they've exhausted themselves running around. It's perfect. Then I can brag about my big victory to the staff and be seen as a true hero.'

Scorbunny, meanwhile, thought about how satisfying it would be to kick in the dragons' faces as Rillaboom pictured herself using the best tactics she had ever used thanks to Aipom's help. And of course, Drizzile also felt confident, especially since he had won the Hero Olympics three years prior.

Rolycoly was dead-set on this while Morgrem could not help but wonder if they were the right team to face the dragons. But the one who wanted to fight them most of all was Vaporeon. Even with Zeraora's lack of abilities, she had a feeling they could still best them in combat. If anything, it would be even more impressive for the duo to take them down before the cat could learn so much as one electric type move.

The dragons, all the while, looked around at the competition while Palkia asked, "So, who should we target first?" Dialga replying, "I've done bit of research, and it turns out those two are the tag team champions," pointing at Machoke and Gardevoir, "If there's any team to take down, it's them. But there are plenty of other great options as well."

But just as the heroes got ready, Beedrill stated, "One last thing before we begin," nodding at Butterfree who turned to Nori. The woman gave them two thumbs up before they flapped their wings and rose up from their seats. They then flew toward the entrance of the maze before Nori stated, "As you can see, folks, once again, our very own chairman and his darling wife will compete in this tournament! Give them a round of applause, folks!"

The crowd cheered wildly as they could not believe this, even if it should have been predictable. Many of them remembered how amazing they were against Magnemite and Squirtle and could not wait to see them in action again.

Once all of the teams were ready, Nori smiled and exclaimed, "Alright, folks, this is it! Without further ado, let's begin!" ringing a bell and signalling the start of the race.

Everyone immediately sprinted into the maze, though Aipom chose to move at a slower pace. Rillaboom did not even need to question this as she understood entirely. After all, this was not like the marathon in the Olympics where those who qualified had to make it into the top sixteen. All that mattered was defeating whoever they wound up facing, and they would need as much energy as possible for that.

Drizzile and Gallade, however, sped through the area with the green man beyond excited to see who he would face. He was certain he would win this time no matter what, especially with such an amazing partner by his side.

Scorbunny and Blaziken were both especially competitive when it came to sporting events. As such, they both ran as fast as possible in the hopes that they would be the first ones to claim a ring. They knew it hardly mattered, but they did not care.

Vaporeon, meanwhile, seemed to have a similar idea, though not for the same reason. She just wanted to face someone as soon as possible and show just how far she had come and how much she had prepared Zeraora for this day. The cat, however, was beyond nervous, but he chose to follow whatever the fox had in mind.

After a while, Scorbunny and Blaziken wound up being the first ones to claim an exit. Both leapt into the ring and rose their arms in the air, the chicken exclaiming, "Man, we're awesome!" the rabbit nodding and holding up her guard, saying, "Just wait. Soon, our opponents will emerge and we'll be ready for them."

Machoke and Gardevoir made it to a ring soon after, Rolycoly having sped all the way to an exit himself, saying, "Hey, wow, we made it pretty quickly," Morgrem seated on top of him like a motorcyclist.

However, she did not look quite as thrilled as he did. Deep down, she was still scared that without her hair blade, she might not be the best teammate for the golem. But soon they would meet their opponents and she would need to ignore such thoughts.

Dialga and Palkia, however, briskly made their way through the maze. Since it was their idea, they already knew the layout, so they saw no need to rush. Shaymin, on the other hand, wanted to go as quickly as possible so badly, yet she could not due to Melmetal being much slower than her.

"How did you place first in the Olympic marathon?" she groaned as he uttered, "Well, I did beat the shit out of a lot of heroes to land myself that spot," chuckling nervously.

After a while, more and more heroes found their own rings, and soon enough, Scorbunny and Blaziken were the first to get a match. The rabbit was more than pumped when she saw that one of her opponents was a golden-white kitsune with red eyes aptly named Ninetales. However, her eyes went wide when she noticed who the other was.

Right next to Ninetales was a rabbit who was the exact same height as Scorbunny. However, his fur had more of a greyish tint to it and he had a yellow bandage on his forehead. His upper body leading all the way up to his chin was red and resembled a turtleneck sweatshirt that covered his mouth. The fur on his lower body was mostly black save for the red fur on his toes.

Blaziken smirked, folded her arms and said, "Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes? I didn't think I'd get you as my first opponent, Ninetales," the kitsune smiling and replying, "Yeah, this is pretty awesome, but don't assume I'll lose just because Machoke beat me in the Olympics."

However, both then noticed Scorbunny staring at the other rabbit while he folded his arms and asked, "What are you looking at!? Is there something on my face!?" Scorbunny shaking her head and replying, "Oh, sorry. It's just, um..." biting her lower lip before fibbing, "Your fur is so cool!"

The male rabbit held the back of his head and chuckled, "Oh, isn't it? I always felt like I was blessed with the coolest fur on the planet," Scorbunny thinking, 'Yep, he's just as full of himself as Grandma said he was. That's my Great Grandpa Raboot, alright. Oh god, I feel kinda bad about having to beat him up, but then again..."

She then smirked and got over her nervousness. After all, in preparation for the Olympics, she faced her own father in combat and came out on top. This was just another one of those cases.

With that in mind, she smiled and said, "Alright, Blaziken, let's do this," the chicken nodding with a grin and replying, "Damn straight! I hope you don't feel too bad when I beat your ass!"

Ninetales chuckled, "As if! With my super awesome partner, you'll meet the same fate Scyther did when she faced me!" she and the chicken sharing a good laugh.

Scorbunny took a deep breath and thought, 'I hate to do this, GG, but I need to do this for a chance to face Dialga and Palkia. Besides, I'll never get a chance to fight alongside Blaziken again. I need to prove myself worthy.'

With that in mind, she waited until Blaziken and Ninetales were ready to fight. And once they were, she and the chicken nodded at one-another before leaping backward into the ropes. They then bounced off and sent flying kicks toward the faces of their opponents. However, Raboot was more than ready for Scorbunny's, thus he leaned backward, performed a handstand and propelled his feet up into the female rabbit's back.

Ninetales was also prepared for Blaziken when she simply allowed herself to take in the incoming kick to her chest. As it so happened, while the chicken headed toward her, she had expanded the size of her tails, thus allowing them to stretch forward and bind the feet that had just struck her in place.

Blaziken's eyes widened as she uttered, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," the kitsune throwing her tails downward and slamming the chicken's back into the canvas. She then lifted Blaziken over her head until she was upside down and wrapped her tails around her neck, wrists, and ankles.

"KITSUNE BACKBREAKER!" Ninetales exclaimed before she pulled back on each part, pressing her middle tail right up against Blaziken's back to add to the pain. The chicken tried her hardest to break free, but all this did was cause her more pain while the kitsune sighed, "It's nothing personal, but you're not the only one who wants to win."

She then turned her back to Raboot and exclaimed, "Hey, Raboot, how about a little teamwork!?" the male rabbit currently on his back while he used his feet to juggle Scorbunny in place. The female rabbit's eyes were wide with terror as she could not help but wonder why she had never thought to use a move like this.

Either way, Raboot knew exactly what Ninetales meant, thus he kicked Scorbunny higher into the air and propelled himself toward the ropes. But just as he was about to launch himself forward, Scorbunny was ready as she thought, 'That may have been impressive, but I know a ton of a moves no one else in the family has ever used. You won't be the least bit prepared for this.'

With that in mind, she lit her feet on fire and spread her arms forward. She then threw them backward just hard enough to propel herself diagonally toward Raboot while exclaiming, "INFERNO AXE!" Once close enough, she flipped vertically and planted her feet into the male rabbit's chest before he gasped in shock.

Ninetales blinked and uttered, "Raboot, are you ready to complete our team move?" before she turned around just in time for to see a flaming heel coming straight for her. And before she could react, she took the blow to her face while Scorbunny squealed, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Many people in the audience watched in amazement when Ninetales released her hold on Blaziken. And this was all the chicken needed as she knelt down and swept her leg into the kitsune's ankles. This caused Ninetales to fall on her back before Blaziken latched her legs onto her neck for a figure-four headlock, Scorbunny adding to the pain by performing a similar hold on the kitsune's legs.

While the crowd was uncertain whether or not this stranger was a good fit for Blaziken at first, they could see just from the first few moves she had used that she was a far better partner than Gardevoir. At the very least, her style was similar enough.

But even so, there was no way Raboot would just lie there and allow Ninetales to lose. As such, he narrowed his eyelids, released smoke from his ears and grunted, "Oh, this is getting interesting!" Thus he leapt onto the top rope and bounced himself off, Scorbunny unable to respond while he flipped vertically with his left foot on fire and rammed it into her face, shouting, "BLAZING WHEEL!"

Scorbunny grunted and released her hold on Ninetales' legs before lifting up her hands and taking hold of Raboot's ankle. She then flipped him over and rammed his face into the kitsune's gut before she rose to her feet, her eyes wide as she thought, 'Oh, no, did I really just do what I think I did!?'

When Raboot rubbed his head and noticed her breathing heavily, he stared in shock and thought, 'Oh my god. She has the same problem I do. She also can't use advanced moves without straining herself,' narrowing his eyelids while his mind added, 'Well, at least I can always remember not to use such tactics.'

Blaziken, meanwhile, was concerned when she saw this and thought, 'Oh my god, she's worse than me. Sure, I used up quite a bit of energy the first time I used a suplex, but not that much. And the opponent I used it on was at least ten times this guy's weight.'

While she thought this, though, she failed to realize she had loosened her hold on Ninetales. This was all the kitsune needed before she grabbed hold of the chicken's ankles and rose back to her feet. She then threw Blaziken downward and slammed her upper back into the canvas before she lifted her up again and bound her in place with her tails.

Unlike before, though, she had a different move in mind as she proceeded to spin Blaziken like a car wheel. She then turned around and aimed her toward the rabbits just in time for Raboot to leap over Scorbunny's head and send a roundhouse into her back.

This caused the female rabbit to falter forward before Ninetales shouted, "KITSUNE BOWGUN!" and launched Blaziken hard into her. Both cried out in pain before they backed away from one-another. And of course, Raboot and Ninetales would not let it end there.

The male rabbit waited for Scorbunny to get close before leaping up, latching onto the sides of her head and forcing her backward. As such, the back of her head hit the canvas while Ninetails rammed her arm into Blaziken's neck from behind and knocked her down as well.

"You see that?" Raboot asked while he had his legs wrapped around Scorbunny's head, "That's how you slam someone without hurting yourself. Of course, I know that because I'm amazing," flexing while Scorbunny thought, 'I know that full well. That was definitely a spur the moment sort of thing, but it won't happen again.'

With that in mind, she spun her body around and forced herself out of Raboot's hold while Blaziken pushed herself up with her hands and swung her feet upward into Ninetales' chin. Raboot was shocked to see her escape from that so easily, thus he was spellbound when she spun around and sent him backwards with a roundhouse to the face.

Blaziken smirked and said, "That was a mighty fine escape, if I say so myself. Come on, let's end this," Scorbunny nodding before she leapt over Raboot's head. She then spun herself around, took hold of his ears and lit her feet on fire while Blaziken dashed behind Ninetales and mounted herself onto her back.

Once the chicken's feet were aflame, she and Scorbunny both nodded at one-another before shouting, "DOUBLE BLAZE KICK!" the female rabbit ramming her heels into the back of Raboot's neck while Blaziken planted her feet into Ninetales' shoulders.

Both opponents coughed up blood and fell flat on their faces while those watching the match cheered wildly for them. But while Scorbunny and Blaziken had dealt a lot of damage, both had a feeling this was not quite over yet.

And sure enough, their assumption was correct, and this was shown when Raboot pushed himself up and helped Ninetales back to her feet. The kitsune took a deep breath and grunted, "I knew Blaziken would be a challenge, but her partner seems almost too perfect. I swear, their fighting styles are practically identical."

Raboot nodded and added, "Yes, it's surprising, to say the least," scratching his forehead, "But we can still win. We have our ultimate combo move."

Ninetales nodded with a smile and proceeded to turn her back to the male rabbit. Blaziken and Scorbunny were both confused when she picked him up with her tails and started to spin him like she had done to Blaziken earlier. However, Scorbunny's eyes widened after a few seconds before she smirked and said, "Oh, we have the perfect move for this, don't we?"

The chicken blinked but soon realized what the female rabbit meant. As such, she smiled, nodded and gave her a thumb up before Ninetales launched Raboot toward them, both shouting, "KITSUNE FLAMETHROWER!"

Sure enough, Raboot lit both of his feet on fire and aimed it at the duo only for Scorbunny and Blaziken to leap backward into the ropes. Both then launched themselves toward the male rabbit with their feet out and on fire. The flames soon formed into a big phoenix before both shouted, "DOUBLE ROARING PHOENIX!" and their feet collided with Raboot's.

It did not take the male rabbit long to realize he stood no chance here, but there was no way he would show it. Thus he kept a look of confidence on his face before Blaziken and Scorbunny overpowered him and sent him careening over the ropes. And after he fell hard on his back outside of the ring, Ninetales grimaced when she took the kick to her gut.

She then felt her back pressed up against the ropes. After a few seconds, the material started to give way. And it did not take long for the ropes to split open, resulting in her flying right into the wall behind Raboot.

Not only was Ninetales out cold, but Raboot had only managed to get up after he had been out of the ring for twenty seconds. As such, a nearby bell rang automatically and confirmed Scorbunny and Blaziken's victory.

The chicken smiled down at Scorbunny and said, "Damn, that was incredible. I couldn't have asked for a better partner," pounding her fist against the female rabbit's.

Raboot, all the while, panted heavily and thought, 'Well, I guess that's only to be expected. After all, I just know that bunny has an impressive lineage, a very impressive lineage.'

Needless to say, those who had watched that particular ring were especially happy. After all, Blaziken was far more popular with the masses than Ninetales, so it only stood to reason more people had wanted to see her come out on top.

While this happened, Morgrem and Rolycoly sat down and waited for their opponents to arrive. The golem took a deep breath and said, "Good thing we got here so quickly. It gives us ample time to rest up, eh?" the goblin nodding with a light smile.

However, both tensed up when they heard a male Russian voice shout, "Alright, we've finally found a ring!" a male Romanian voice adding, "And it looks like we have us a couple of victims ripe for the picking."

Both turned and noticed that the Russian was a grizzly bear with a yellow ring on his front side named Ursaring. His partner was a black rottweiler with an orange muzzle, bones along his back and curved horns on his head named Houndoom.

In the past, Rolycoly would have at least been terrified to fight someone like Ursaring. But since the first opponent her ever defeated was a taller dragon made of steel, he felt like he could handle this. Thus he pounded his fist against his palm and said, "These guys aren't so tough, eh, Morgrem?"

Morgrem took a deep breath, stood up and grunted, "Hell yeah," though deep down, she was not sure if she truly believed it. If anything, she hoped these two were not as tough as they looked. After all, she was still unsure if she could really win without her hair blade.


	8. Chapter 8

After a very long time, Morgrem and Rolycoly had a chance to finally win a team match. They had always had terrible results with these in the past, but the golem was certain that would not happen this time.

Ursaring cracked his knuckles and said, "It's been a while since I saw some action. Kind of a shame our opponents don't seem like much of a challenge."

"Whatever," Houndoom remarked with a smirk, "There's only one contestant in this tournament I wanna fight above all others, and that's Golduck," the bear uttering, "Is she actually participating?"

"Yeah," the rottweiler replied, "I saw her before this began. And I'll never forget the way she humiliated me in the Hero Olympics. I had everything going in my favour and yet she continuously knocked me around like a rag doll while I was only able to land three hits on her! Well, once we blast our way through these two, I'm certain we'll get to face her in the real tournament!"

Rolycoly frowned and whispered, "They seem really sure of themselves, but we'll prove that we're better than we look, right?" Morgrem nodding and forcing a grin, thinking, 'That's right, I need to be confident. If Rolycoly can keep his cool during this, so can I.'

With all said and done, the golem immediately sped toward Ursaring, the bear shocked when he took a fierce headbutt to his gut. He then flew into the turnbuckle while those watching the match were shocked. Even those who had been watching other rings turned to face this one as they could not believe this small stranger had pulled off such a feat against someone so tall and powerful.

Houndoom growled and lunged at Rolycoly only for the golem to propel himself into the air and ram his arm into the rottweiler's neck. He then landed right on top of Houndoom's gut and started to scrape his wheel against him, shouting, "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!"

The rottweiler cried out in agonizing pain while Morgrem watched this and thought, 'He's doing an incredible job, and all on his own no less,' before she noticed Ursaring recover from the hit he had taken in.

When the bear raced toward Rolycoly with his elbow out, Morgrem leapt toward him and spat, "GRIZZLY BLADE!" spinning like a twister before she suddenly remembered she no longer had her hair blade.

As such, she took the elbow to her side and flew into the ropes. Rolycoly noticed this and gasped, "MORGREM!" only for Ursaring to lift him up off of Houndoom right after the goblin bounced toward both fighters. Then when she was close enough, the bear proceeded to shove Rolycoly forward and cause his forehead to collide with her gut.

Both winced in pain while the goblin held onto the spot that had just been hit. Rolycoly gasped and whimpered, "I'm so sorry!" only for Morgrem to chuckle, "That wasn't your fault."

However, neither opponent would wait until they were no longer distracted. As such, Houndoom pushed himself toward Rolycoly and planted the claws on his feet into his side. He then leaned backward, placed his hands firmly against the canvas and growled, "Alright, it's payback time!"

He lifted Rolycoly high into the air and slammed his back hard into the canvas. Before Morgrem could retaliate, Ursaring sped behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He then held her as tight as he could while digging his claws into her flesh, shouting, "ULTIMATE BEAR HUG!"

Morgrem cried out in agony while blood dripped from her belly. She tried her hardest to free herself but to no avail. And once Ursaring decided he had held her long enough, he lifted her up and leaned backward before he planted her skull into the canvas.

Rolycoly pushed himself upright and growled, "As if I'd let you get away with that!" racing toward Ursaring and ramming his own elbow into the bear's gut. Once again, this was enough to get him to back up while he clutched the spot that was hit and grunted, "That little one is surprisingly tough, but the tall one, she doesn't even seem like she belongs in this tournament."

Rolycoly frowned and looked at Morgrem with concern. He had a feeling she would be able to get up from that but was shocked when she did not even move. Thus he blinked and uttered, "Morgrem?"

After a few seconds, she pushed herself up and panted before he said, "Hey, hop onto my back. We can hit them with one of our awesome team moves," the goblin nodding.

While she had dealt with far worse when she fought Scorbunny and Grimmsnarl in the past, she had pretty much lost her spirit after making such a boneheaded mistake during an important match. To top it all off, Rolycoly had pretty much done everything up to this point. As such, she felt it best to just let him take the lead and not question anything.

When she climbed onto his back, Ursaring blinked and said, "Wow, so he's like a little motorcycle," Houndoom biting his lower lip and wheezing, "I can't help it! That's actually kind of adorable!"

Even so, he quickly regained focus when he and Ursaring immediately saw a way to counter this. Rolycoly sped toward them and shouted, "ROCK RAGE!" only for Houndoom to slide toward the golem's wheel while Ursaring leapt up into the air with his arm out.

Morgrem gasped when she took the bear's arm to her neck and coughed up a bit of phloem. Rolycoly was equally shocked when the rottweiler's feet hit his wheel hard and caused him to flip vertically over his head. The golem's face landed flat against the canvas before Ursaring smirked and gave Houndoom a thumb up.

Houndoom nodded and lifted up Morgrem before lashing out his fangs. He then lit them on fire and barked, "FIRE FANG!" before he planted them into the goblin's shoulder. He then started to draw a bit of blood from her while saying through clenched teeth, "As you can see, I'm half-vampire! Now for a tactic I learned from Golduck!"

He then proceeded to lift Morgrem up while his fangs were still in her and leaned backward. But before the goblin could hit the canvas, Ursaring leapt backwards towards them, leaned his hands back and grabbed hold of her ankles. This allowed him to apply more force when her back hit the canvas, he and Houndoom shouting, "DOUBLE BRAINBUSTER!"

Morgrem cried out in pain when not only did she take in pain to her back but her head and neck as well. And when Houndoom removed his fangs from her, he licked up a bit of her blood and said, "Hey, thanks. That healed me right up."

As if the pain was not bad enough, Morgrem could not help but feel a great deal of shock and fear. She had not entirely understood what he said earlier since his voice was muffled, but now she knew exactly what he had told her. Even though he was clearly canine, it seemed as if he had vampire DNA. This meant that her blood had just done exactly what he said it did.

While the goblin lay there, Rolycoly pushed himself up and spotted her. He gritted his teeth and raced toward Ursaring and Houndoom after the bear walked next to his partner. The golem then held his fists forward and rammed them into their backs, and while both opponents cried out and shifted their midsections forward, they refused to lose the advantage that easily.

As such, they allowed themselves to fly away from Rolycoly briefly before grinning at one-another and spinning around, delivering two roundhouses to his face. This caused small cracks to form as he groaned and backed up.

As if a chip on the side of his head left from his fight with Zamazenta was not bad enough, he could not help but feel a great sense of dread. All of the confidence he had before, the very confidence he had tried to rub off on Morgrem had left him. These two were far worse than he had expected.

As such, he slowly backed away from them while Ursaring folded his arms and said, "You have put up an admirable effort. As such, I'm willing to give you a chance to leave without further injury. If you give up now, we won't hurt you anymore."

While Houndoom hated to win this way, he was okay with this arrangement. Thus he nodded with a grin while Morgrem slowly looked up with her eyes wide open. And when she saw just how scared Rolycoly was, she could feel him about to do exactly what they suggested.

'No,' the goblin thought while she panted heavily, 'We were going to finally win a team match together. And now Rolycoly's gonna throw it all away because of me.'

With that in mind, she gritted her teeth, clenched her fists and climbed back to her feet, her mind adding, 'No! I won't let that happen!'

Just as the golem was about to forfeit, his eyes widened when Morgrem leapt onto Houndoom's back from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips. She then grunted, "Let's see how you like it!" lashing out her own fangs and planting them into his shoulder.

Sure, she could not drink his blood as she had no vampire DNA, but this still dealt enough damage to draw a bit of the liquid from him. She then growled through clenched teeth, "FANG SUPLEX!" and propelled herself high into the air, leaning backward and planting the back of his neck into the canvas.

Ursaring turned and gasped, "HOUNDOOM!" only for Rolycoly to regain his confidence and propel himself into the ropes. He then bounced off and crossed his arms in front of his face while flames surrounded him. And when Ursaring took the arms to the back of his neck, Rolycoly shouted, "METEORITE CROSS CHOP!"

For the first time in the match, Ursaring coughed up blood before he fell forward onto his chin. Rolycoly landed on his back and started to scrape his wheel against it, grabbing hold of the bear's chin and right leg and pulling up on them, barking, "MEDIEVAL TORTURE DEVICE!"

Of course Morgrem's contribution did not end there. She had just knocked Houndoom down and fully intended to take advantage of this. Thus she flipped him over onto his belly and climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing her. She also latched onto his left leg with both of hers and pulled up on it. It was at that moment she came up with a new signature move.

"FANG SUBMISSION!" she barked before she lashed out her fangs and bit into Houndoom's skull. The rottweiler cried out in agonizing pain while he now heavily considered giving up.

Morgrem let down light tears and thought, 'That's it. I don't need my hair blade. I never needed it. I'm already awesome, even without it!'

Rolycoly smiled at his partner and breathed a sigh of relief only for Ursaring to growl and lift up his arm. While this caused his back more pain, it seemed to be worth it when he took hold of the hand pulling on his chin. He then used all his might to toss Rolycoly off of him, the golem's eyes wide with terror when he flew right into Morgrem, knocking her off of Houndoom's back.

The rottweiler breathed a sigh of relief and rose to his feet, panting, "Thanks, Ursaring. That was close."

With that in mind, he then leapt over to the bear and grunted, "Let's end this before they get another advantage!" Ursaring nodding and lifting the rottweiler up onto his back. Houndoom held on tight while the bear went down on all fours, the rottweiler's horns pointed forward.

The two then proceeded to race toward their opponents and shouted, "BATTERING RAM!" Morgrem smirking at Rolycoly and saying, "I got an idea."

She then took hold of his arms from behind, ducked down and pressed her feet up against his back. With that, Rolycoly rolled forward at a rapid speed as the two spat, "ROLLING BALL AND CHAIN!"

Ursaring's eyes widened as Rolycoly ducked down, tucking his wheel into his lower body. This lowered him just enough for him to slide under the rottweiler's horns and ram his skull into Ursaring's face, blood flying from his snout while he gritted his teeth with his eyes wide open.

With that, Morgrem flipped her lower body upward and latched her ankles to Houndoom's neck. She then leaned backward and rammed his face into the canvas, allowing Rolycoly to drag him along while he used his fists to ram Ursaring's chin into the surface and force him backward.

Due to the extreme pressure, both coughed up blood and passed out. And when Rolycoly and Morgrem saw this, they released their hold on them and took many deep breaths. Sure enough, both opponents were out for ten seconds, thus a bell in the area rang automatically to confirm their victory.

Morgrem and Rolycoly continued to pant a little longer while they stared at one-another. Big smiles formed on their faces before they held each other in a tight embrace, Morgrem squealing, "OH MY GOD, WE DID IT! WE WON A TEAM MATCH!" Rolycoly crying, "I KNOW! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!"

The duo patted each other on the back before Morgrem fell to her knees and sighed, "Now I need a good, long rest. I just know the others are doing okay."

While that went on, Machoke and Gardevoir waited in their own ring to see who they would face. Soon enough, someone entered before a door sealed them inside. The white woman's eyes widened when she gazed upon just who her opponents were.

The heroes in question were Garchomp and Lairon. The blue dragon was the one who stood out the most to the couple. After all, she defeated Gardevoir in the second round of the twenty second Hero Olympics. If anything, this felt like the perfect opportunity for the white woman to see if she was truly ready to face her, especially since she had gotten significantly better since they last fought.

Machoke turned to his wife with concern only for her to smile and squeal, "Hi, Garchomp!" before the dragon stared at her in confusion. She had certainly not expected that response, especially since she had defeated Gardevoir fairly easily.

Either way, she grinned and said, "Hello to you, too," bowing her head before she rose up into the air and picked up Lairon by his shoulders. She then carried him with her before rising as high above the ring as she could. Needless to say, those among the crowd closest to this ring were truly amazed as even those watching other matches turned away to gaze upon the dragon and dinosaur who were now in full view.

Once high enough, Garchomp dropped Lairon who tucked himself into a ball and spun like a wheel before landing perfectly against the ring's surface. He held up his arms and exclaimed, "YEAH! IT'S NICE TO BE BACK HERE IN TOKYO!"

Those who could see the ring clapped and cheered wildly. Although Machoke could not help but feel a little confused. After all, not only had Garchomp defeated Lairon in the Hero Olympics, but she had also used her dorsal fin to slash a helmet he had made for himself in half. Even so, he had to admit, that was a great entrance, and Gardevoir seemed to agree when she applauded them with a big open-mouth smile on her face.

"Hey, thanks," Lairon said with a grin, "We figured we may as well go all-out just in case we lost," Garchomp adding, "Though don't feel too bad if we come out on top."

Gardevoir then remembered how all of her entrances in the past went, thus she cleared her throat, sported a serious look and retorted in a deeper voice, "Oh yeah!? Well, you're going down like a clown, Charlie Brown!"

Now the audience could not help but stare awkwardly while Machoke patted the white woman on the shoulder and said, "Nice one, honey. Though maybe you should have used a taunt you haven't used before."

Gardevoir clasped her hands over her mouth and squeaked, "Oh no, you're right! I was gonna say 'It's on like Donkey Kong!' Now it's too late!" Garchomp staring at this and thinking, 'How is someone so goddamn cute Tokyo's second-best hero?'

Lairon, all the while, folded his arms and said, "Honestly, I'm just glad I have a chance to face the tag team champions themselves! Even if we do end up losing, this is a big honour!"

With that in mind, all four fighters were more than ready. Thus Machoke raced toward Lairon while Gardevoir headed toward Garchomp. The dragon smirked and thought, 'I've heard about how much better you've gotten since we fought back in the day. Let's see if it's true.'

She waited for the white woman to get close before readying her arm only for Lairon to turn away from Machoke and state, "Use both your arm and tail," turning back toward the reptilian man just in time to sidestep an incoming karate chop.

Machoke blinked when Lairon took hold of his arm and fell backward, ramming the reptilian's chin into the canvas. He then sat on his back and pulled hard on his wrist while the crowd gasped. And while this happened, Garchomp swung both her right arm and tail toward Gardevoir only for the white woman to frown and flip backward into the air.

Her timing was just right as this allowed her to slip between both body parts, everyone truly amazed while even Garchomp's jaw was dropped. And sure enough, with her now distracted, Gardevoir took full advantage of this after making a full three hundred and sixty degree flip and sent both of her palms into the dragon's cheek.

Unlike years ago when she used this on her, this showed incredible results. Thus Garchomp skidded across the mat a little bit, allowing Gardevoir to leap toward Lairon and deliver a flying kick to his cheek. And with him now distracted, Machoke grinned, rose back to his feet and wrapped his arms around the dinosaur.

"You're just as good at strategizing as I remember!" he stated before lifting Lairon up and leaning backward, slamming the back of his head into the mat and adding, "But don't forget, I have the best teammate a guy could ever ask for!"

Garchomp rubbed her cheek as the reptilian released Lairon and allowed him to roll backward toward the dragon. The dinosaur took a deep breath and said, "Yep, they really are a formidable team. We'll have to kick things up a notch."

Garchomp nodded before she rose up into the air and picked him up with her feet again. She then flew backward into the ropes and launched herself forward. Before Machoke and Gardevoir could devise a counterattack, they were stunned when the dragon hurled Lairon forward only for him to soar over their heads. But just as it seemed like her aim had been really off, Lairon tucked himself into a ball and rolled into the ropes on the opposite side.

After he bounced off, Garchomp spread her arms out. The couple was prepared to duck until Lairon retracted from his ball-like state, held out his arms and rammed them into their backs. With that, he and Garchomp shouted, "DUAL DRAGON CLOTHESLINE!" the dragon's wrist fins striking Machoke and Gardevoir hard in their necks.

Both grunted in pain while their upper bodies arched forward until they lost their balance and fell on their backs. Lairon grinned, leapt into the air and tucked himself into a ball before Garchomp flew over him and grabbed him with her feet. She then lifted him high above the ring before she dropped him toward Machoke. Finally, she flipped herself over until her snout was pointed at Gardevoir and descended toward her.

While they fell, the dragon released shock waves from her mouth that stopped in front of her and surrounded her body after she passed through them. As such, her body was soon covered in a blue flame as she rammed her snout into Gardevoir's gut and exclaimed, "DRAGON RUSH!"

And when Lairon landed on Machoke, he barked, "IRON METEOR!" Machoke and Gardevoir both coughing up blood while the crowd cheered even louder. As much as they wanted to see the couple win, Lairon and Garchomp had truly impressed them so far.

Lairon and Garchomp flipped upright and grinned with pride before they gave each other a high five. But even so, they knew better than to assume their opponents had been defeated. As such, Lairon took hold of Machoke and flipped him onto his belly while Garchomp did he same with Gardevoir. Both then spread their bodies over them and wrapped their arms around their necks.

But just as it seemed like Machoke and Gardevoir might actually lose, both of them regained focus and grinned at one-another. The crowd's excitement grew when a violet glow formed around the white woman's hands. And things only got better when Machoke focused hard and expanded his muscles briefly. He knew he could not do this for long without putting a serious strain on himself, but this hardly mattered as it seemed like just enough to force Lairon off of him.

Garchomp's eyes and mouth were wide with terror when Gardevoir rose up to her feet and ignored the pain to her neck. As it so happened, the glow was a power that had been passed down through her family for generations, though only females could use it. It took a lot of hard work, but the white woman had learned how to control it, though she could only use it for three minutes. After that, she would have to wait a while to be able to use it again.

With that in mind, she took hold of Garchomp's claws and leaned forward, tossing the dragon forward and ramming the back of her head into the canvas. And with Lairon airborne, Machoke was ready as he leapt up to his level and flipped him upside down. The reptilian then rested his knees up against the sides of Lairon's head and planted his skull into the canvas with a tombstone piledriver.

The dragon and the dinosaur slowly rose to their feet while Machoke and Gardevoir raced toward the opposite ropes and jumped backward toward them. After stretching the material back, they launched themselves forward and held out their arms, shouting, "ECLIPSE HOOK!" ramming them into the sides of their opponents' necks.

Both opponents coughed up blood with their eyes and mouths wide open. They had heard of Gardevoir's family power, how it doubled her strength. But even with that in mind, they could not allow themselves to lose this easily. Both had witnessed her lose to two opponents after using the ability once before, so they knew this did not guarantee her the victory.

With that in mind, Garchomp did her best to ignore the pain to her neck and jabbed her right claw into Gardevoir's gut, shouting, "DRAGON CLAW!" said part glowing as it held the white woman in place.

Lairon also ignored the pain dealt to him and wrapped his arm around Machoke's side, ramming his head into the reptilian's face and shouting, "IRON HEAD!"

But while both strikes certainly dealt damage, the lovers managed to ignore it. Gardevoir smiled and said, "I can handle your moves now," before she grabbed hold of Garchomp's wrist and pried the claw out of it, adding, "Thanks for aiming away from the jersey, by the way."

"Well, I did tell you it suits you," Garchomp chuckled before she sighed, "We're screwed, aren't we?"

It seemed so when Machoke once again wrapped his arms around Lairon and leapt into the air. Gardevoir nodded and latched onto Garchomp before she did the same. Both flipped their opponents upside down before Gardevoir wrapped her legs around the dragon's neck and took hold of her wrists, forcing her arms out. Machoke, meanwhile, wrapped his legs around Lairon's neck and his arms around his legs.

The crowd was truly ecstatic as they knew exactly what was coming. Sure enough, Garchomp's skull hit the canvas hard before Lairon's head pressed up against her feet as if he had just taken in an extra hard kick to the skull. With that, Machoke and Gardevoir shouted, "MUSCLE COFFIN!" before their opponents coughed up more blood.

While it had been difficult, Machoke and Gardevoir both grinned at one-another after they released their opponents. Then after ten seconds, a bell rang and their victory was confirmed. Thus they rose their arms in the air while the part of the crowd that had seen their match cheered wildly.

So far, things were certainly looking good for the heroes. But just how would the others do?


	9. Chapter 9

Things had been going rather smoothly for the heroes of Tokyo and Edmonton so far. But of course, while two of the teams had won, there were still three more. And sure enough, Gallade and Drizzile had arrived at a ring of their own during all of this. But while the others had made it before their opponents, these two did so after their opponents.

Already standing inside the ring were Lopunny and Heracross. The kabuto smiled and exclaimed, "Hey, Gallade! It's been a while, lad! How you been!?" the green man grinning and replying, "Not bad. Granted, I wish my wife was here to cheer me on, but I'll still beat you this time!"

As it so happened, Heracross and Scorbunny were Gallade's opponents in the first round of the last tournament. The green man and Hitmonchan did a great job, but they still lost, and while Gallade had no problem falling to a couple of good friends, a part of him still internally beat himself up for that loss. It especially did not help that he had promised to win for Gardevoir's sake after she and Blaziken lost that same round to someone who at the time no one realized was a villain.

Lopunny smirked and jumped back and forth on one leg at a time while she squealed, "I'd like to see you try! Ever since Hoopa ripped off Heracross' horn, we've been working extra hard to make sure he can work around the fact that he can no longer use his best moves!"

Gallade nodded with a serious look in his eyes. While Heracross' horn may have been taped back on after the incident in question, it had lost all the strength that the kabuto had given it over the years. He used to be able to make it glow for a move he called Megahorn, but now he could no longer do that.

Drizzile simply stood there and allowed them to converse. As a big admirer of Gallade, he had researched all of this in advance and figured it would be rude to interrupt their conversation. Not to mention he had a feeling they had not seen each other in years.

After a bit more talking, Gallade blinked and said, "By the way, meet my amazing new partner, Drizzile," the chameleon chuckling nervously and giving a light wave.

Heracross blinked and said, "Aye, I heard you got yourself a new partner," holding out his hand with a friendly smile. Drizzile returned the gesture and shook the kabuto's hand before Lopunny bounced over and squealed, "It's so nice to meet you!"

She then clasped both of her hands against one of his before she shook it vigorously, adding, "You must really be something for Gallade to take you in!" Heracross sighing and saying nothing to that. He simply assumed that someone like Gallade would be desperate enough to take anyone as an ally, but even so, he knew better than to take an opponent lightly.

With all said and done, everyone was finally ready to fight. But before they did so, Gallade turned to Drizzile and whispered, "Since you're the one with the good track record, I'll leave it up to you to come up with a strategy."

The chameleon felt beyond honoured right now. While he was used to praise from his closest friends, to hear his idol put this much faith in him was simply incredible. As such, he knew there was no room for error.

With that in mind, he remembered what he had seen from the footage of Lopunny and Heracross' fight with Gallade and Hitmonchan back in the day. As such, he nodded and whispered something into the side of Gallade's head. The green man smiled and nodded as Heracross uttered, "You see that, lassie? He's actually taking advice."

Lopunny nodded and whimpered, "The worst part is, I know nothing of this Drizzile. He might actually have a good strategy."

Even so, both still felt prepared before Drizzile raced toward them with his arms out. Heracross immediately spread out his wings and flew toward the chameleon with his horn pointed forward. But just as he was close enough, Drizzile leapt into the air and formed water around his hands. That water then morphed into katana while Lopunny stared in shock, Drizzile shouting, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!"

Before Heracross could figure out what was going on, he took both blades to his back as green blood squirted out of him. He cried out in agonizing pain before Drizzile threw his arms back and hurled the kabuto toward Gallade.

The green man was ready, thus when Heracross was close enough, he threw his arms up and grabbed hold of his shoulders. Then, using the momentum of the kabuto's flight, he leaned backward and slammed his face into the canvas while Drizzile swung his blades toward Lopunny.

The rabbit bounced high into the air before the chameleon exclaimed, "Now!" Gallade running over and jumping onto his upper back. The green man then launched himself into the air until he reached Lopunny's level, rose his arms and shouted, "PSYCHO CUT!" swinging them downward in an X formation and putting a fairly big gash on her gut.

The crowd that watched this particular match stared in shock at the sight of this as Lopunny fell hard on her back. Heracross had only just risen back to his feet when he saw this and gasped. He then stared at the fighters before him and thought, 'My word. I was not prepared for that.'

Gallade grinned at Drizzile and said, "That was amazing," the chameleon nodding and preparing himself for more. After all, there was no way that would be enough to take both opponents down, at least not this early in the match.

Sure enough, Heracross flew toward them again, though this time he had his arms out. Drizzile nodded at Gallade before the duo slid under the kabuto and took hold of his ankles. This allowed them to slam his face into the canvas before they noticed Lopunny rise to her feet and ignore the pain to her gut. The green man and chameleon nodded at one-another and held Heracross back before flinging him forward and into his partner.

The crowd cheered even louder before one said, "I've seen Gallade perform well in combat, but this is something else," another replying, "Yeah. Whatever ideas that lizard has cooked up seem to be working. He's a really good ally for him."

Drizzile blinked when he overheard this and thought, 'Is anyone ever gonna figure out my actual species?' before shaking his head with a smile. Gallade simply grinned, patted his upper back and said, "They're right. I can just taste victory."

Heracross slowly rose to his feet and groaned, "Sorry about that, Lopunny," only for the rabbit to shake her head and giggle, "That wasn't your fault. Besides, now that we're together, we can get the upper hand."

Both nodded at one-another before the rabbit lifted Heracross up onto her back. She then bent her body forward and wrapped her ears around his waist to keep him in place. With that, she raced forward as Gallade gasped, "Oh shit, not this move!"

Drizzile was about to dodge only for Lopunny to pick up the pace, she and Heracross exclaiming, "RHINO MISSILE!" The chameleon once again formed his katana and crossed them in front of his face only for Heracross to tilt his horn upward and ram the tip into the chameleon's forehead.

While this may not have been as powerful as it could have been, the part was still more than strong enough to deal some serious damage. And before Gallade could not even attempt to help his partner, Lopunny swung her body sideways and rammed Heracross' horn into his side, both fighters shouting, "RHINO BASEBALL BAT!"

Of course, they would not let it end there. As such, Lopunny released Heracross and sent her right ear into Gallade's face like a fist, shouting, "DIZZY PUNCH!"

Just as the name implied, this left the green man dazed and confused while he hobbled back with his eyes swirling. All the while, Heracross raced toward Drizzile and rammed his elbow into the chameleon's face. This caused him to groan and back up slightly before the kabuto wrapped his arms around him.

Lopunny turned to face Heracross and smiled with a nod. She then wrapped her ears around Gallade to bind him in place before she leapt high into the air and flipped one hundred and eighty degrees. Heracross made sure he and Drizzile were right below them before he spread out his wings and flew into the sky.

Sure enough, Drizzile and Gallade's skulls soon made contact before Heracross and Lopunny barked, "BUNNY-BEETLE DRIVER!" This caused both opponents to cough up blood before they were released and able to collapse onto the mat.

"I'll admit, those were some impressive moves earlier, but you won't be winning this match anytime soon!" Heracross quipped while Lopunny nodded and added, "That's right. It's nothing personal, but we aim to win the tournament this time."

However, their eyes widened when Drizzile rose to his feet with ease as if he had not just taken in a powerful hit. But what confused them and the audience was that his eyes were still closed. And unbeknownst to them, his ear holes were also sealed, but why would he do something like that?

Either way, Heracross folded his arms and sighed, "I hate to take advantage of this, I really do. His poor body doesn't seem to know it should be in worse condition than this."

Lopunny nodded and replied, "Still, if he continues to stand, our victory won't be made official," thus the kabuto took a deep breath, spread out his wings and flew toward Drizzile with the intent of giving him a light nudge.

Drizzile seemed to sense this, thus he leapt into the air and formed water around his hands. Before anyone could even figure out what was up, he lathered his feet and formed blades on the bottom. Finally, he planted them into Heracross' back and slid along it, putting two more cuts in him and shouting, "AQUATIC ICE SKATES!"

Heracross cried out in pain and fell hard on his belly while Lopunny gasped, "Was he playing possum!?" She then pressed her back up against the ropes and bounced off with her feet out only for the chameleon to swerve to the right and form more water around his hands. He then morphed it into a pair of large gloves and sent a karate chop into the rabbit's side, shouting, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!"

Lopunny let out a loud squeak and fell on her side before she rolled away from Drizzile. At that moment, Gallade rose to his feet with a smile and said, "It's a shame. I was hoping you two would not have to be the first to fall victim to my ally's special power."

"Special power?" Heracross uttered before Gallade grinned and explained, "That's right. Drizzile has a special defensive manoeuvre. When he shuts off all sense of sight and sound, he's able to read the movement of his opponents, thus letting him fight much more efficiently. It also allows him to ignore pain that's been dealt to him."

Lopunny's eyes sparkled as she uttered, "So cool," Heracross nodding and replying, "Aye, a very impressive ability indeed. But can he distinguish between you and us while in that state?"

Gallade blinked and uttered, "Uh, I'm sure he can," when Drizzile opened his eyes and ear holes. He then turned and said, "Good, you're up."

The green man smiled and nodded before he said, "Good job keeping these two at bay. Come on, let's finish this," trying his hardest not to let Heracross' question get to him. He trusted Drizzile. There was no way the chameleon would mistake him for an opponent, would he?

Whatever the case, Heracross and Lopunny were still able to fight. As such, the kabuto flew into the air and picked up the rabbit by her shoulders. He then flung her toward Drizzile before her feet hit his gut hard. Gallade blinked and gasped, "Hold on!" coming in to help only for Heracross to exclaim, "MEGAHORN!" and ram the tip of his horn into the green man's cheek.

While this did not have the same level of power that it had in the past, it was still effective, thus Gallade flew into the turnbuckle and groaned in pain. When Drizzile saw this, he took hold of Lopunny's feet only for the rabbit to stretch both of her ears forward like rubber, plant them into his face and squeal, "DOUBLE DIZZY PUNCH!"

The chameleon's eyes started to swirl now, but just as Lopunny was about to take advantage of this, he simply closed his eyes and ear holes again. This allowed him to completely block out the dizziness while Gallade stared and thought, 'Wow, this tactic is incredible. Too bad it only lasts a couple of minutes.'

Unfortunately, though, it seemed as if Lopunny was prepared this time when she quickly wrapped her ears around Drizzile's wrists. She then threw him into the air and caused him to flip upside down before she leapt up to his level and aimed her skull toward his feet. She proceeded to wrap her ears around the chameleon's ankles and spun like a twister while they descended.

"BUNNY TORNADO!" she exclaimed before she planted his skull into the canvas. And with Drizzile down, Heracross took hold of Gallade's arm and hurled him toward Lopunny, shouting, "ALRIGHT, LOPUNNY LET HIM HAVE IT!"

The rabbit nodded and extended her ear, only for Drizzile to place a firm grip against the canvas, pry his head out of the mat and flip upright. Lopunny and Heracross both stared with their eyes wide open, Gallade thinking, 'OH SHIT, HE'S GONNA THINK I'M ATTACKING HIM!'

Drizzile formed his big gloves, but just as everyone though he would counter both fighters, he used one hand to take hold of Lopunny's ear before it could strike him while holding the other in front of him like a baseball mitt and stopping Gallade's flight.

Before either Gallade or Lopunny could respond, Drizzile proceeded to gently move the green man out of the way before he lifted the rabbit over his head and sent her crashing down upon a spellbound Heracross. And with that, Drizzile had used his tactic for two minutes exactly, thus he opened his eyes and ear holes, asking, "Hey, you alright?"

Gallade blinked and uttered, "Yeah," noticing Lopunny and Heracross still moving. Thus he smiled and asked, "What say we finish them off with that team move we came up with?"

Drizzile nodded before he formed his katana one last time. Gallade took hold of his left wrist, making sure the blade on that particular arm did not touch his flesh. And with that, he and the chameleon stood on the tips of their toes and spun like a twister toward their opponents.

Heracross stared and uttered, "Hey, it's that move he and Hitmonchan almost finished us with," Gallade holding out his own left arm while he and Drizzile shouted, "PSYCHO TYPHOON!"

The kabuto smirked and said, "Let's beat this the same way we did before," Lopunny about to agree only for both of their opponents to pick up speed. Thus each one took two big slashes to the midsection before they coughed up blood and fell hard on their backs.

The crowd stared as the kabuto and rabbit lay there for ten seconds. And once the time passed, a bell rang, thus Drizzile and Gallade's victory was confirmed. Drizzile smiled and turned to Gallade who panted heavily and looked down at his opponents.

"Oh my god," he uttered, slowly turning to face Drizzile. A light smile then formed on his face while he chuckled lightly. That chuckle slowly grew into heavy laughter before he exclaimed, "WE DID IT! WE WON! WE ACTUALLY BEAT THEM!"

He then rose his arms in the air before he held Drizzile in a tight embrace and twirled with him. The chameleon chuckled nervously, feeling beyond tense to have his hero show this much gratitude. And after a few seconds, Gallade set him down and sighed, "Thank you so much, Drizzile. I'm not sure if I'd be able to enjoy this moment right now if it weren't for you."

Needless to say, the audience was just as ecstatic. Much like Scorbunny, Drizzile had certainly gained a great deal of support from the crowd. Just the fact that he had helped Gallade achieve his second major victory on Earth was more than enough. And of course, he hoped that with the green man's help, he could take down Dialga and Palkia.

While all of this went on, Rillaboom and Aipom had found their way through the maze pretty easily thanks to the monkey's quick thinking. And they just happened to reach their own ring at the same time as another team. The gorilla gazed upon her opponents and gasped, thinking, 'No way. What are the odds?'

Aipom turned toward her and asked, "Something wrong?" only for Rillaboom to shake her head and reply, "Just a little nervous. It's been a while since I fought in front of a crowd," a light grin on her face while the monkey nodded in understanding.

Their first opponent was a cream-coloured unicorn with red eyes along with a mane and tail made entirely out of fire. He also had flames coming out of his ankles and wrists and was named Rapidash.

But the one Rillaboom was most focused on was his partner, a ram with her body covered in white wool with a few black patches on it. She had a grey ring around her neck made out of wool with two small additional horns growing out of it to go with the long curved ones atop her head.

'Yes, there's no mistaking it,' Rillaboom thought, 'I already know that unicorn is Rapidight's great grandfather, but I get the feeling that ram must be related to Wooloo.'

She could not help but find this ironic. After all, the first opponent she faced in the Hero Olympics tournament was a sheep named Wooloo. She had a very similar appearance, and the gorilla could only hope that this ram would not be as tough. After all, Wooloo had proven to be a lot stronger than she looked when they fought.

However, this also meant that she knew what to expect. Thus she smiled and thought, 'Alright, I have to remember not to try and attack anywhere with wool covering it. If it's as strong as her great granddaughter's, it can only make things worse if I go for it.'

Aipom, meanwhile, looked at the crowd and said, "You know, Rillaboom, I don't blame you. It's been four years since I fought for the first time in my life. I just hope I'm as good as I was back then."

The gorilla grinned and replied, "I can tell from our training that you are. Besides, you're a tactical genius. I feel fully confident with you by my side."

The monkey blushed once again and thought, 'I'm so not used to this! Even Machoke didn't praise me this much!' but she had to remain professional. After all, even back when she was ten, she always went out of her way to act more mature than her age suggested.

Rapidash, all the while, smirked and said, "Wow, this is quite the privilege. Our first victim's gonna be the one who trained Machoke," Dubwool nodding with her arms folded. However, she was much more focused on Rillaboom. She had no idea why, but something about the gorilla stirred up a rather large flame within her.

Whatever the reason, she felt more than ready for this match as did the others. And of course, those who could see the match were certainly interested to see just how good of an ally Rillaboom wold be for Aipom.


	10. Chapter 10

Rillaboom was both excited and nervous. She finally had a chance to fight in front of a crowd with one of the greatest trainers in history by her side.

They would certainly need to think fast when Rapidash went down on all fours and raced toward them. He then reached his mane forward until it touched his horn and lit it on fire, shouting, "HORN FROM HELL!"

Dubwool also charged forward, but after a few seconds, she tucked her arms and legs into her wool and rolled like a boulder toward Aipom, barking, "COTTON BOULDER!"

Much like when Wooloo had used this same move, Rillaboom could see that the ram's head was still exposed. Thus she turned to Aipom and stated, "Wait until she's in the right position and strike her face. Trust me on this one."

The monkey blinked in confusion but realized she had no time to question this. She simply nodded with a serious smile while Rillaboom waited for Rapidash to close in on her and grabbed onto his horn. The crowd stared as smoke rose from her palm, but she ignored it and lifted the unicorn up before she swung him downward and planted his chin into the canvas.

Aipom quickly caught onto Dubwool's pattern and leapt toward her. She spun vertically with her tail hand balled up into a fist and squeaked, "TAIL HAMMER!" sending it downward just in time to strike the ram right between the eyes.

The crowd cheered when Dubwool grunted in pain and stopped her attack. She then backed up before Rillaboom lifted up Rapidash again and hurled him into the turnbuckle. Dubwool gritted her teeth and thought, 'That ape, she just gave Aipom perfect advice. But there's no way she could possibly know about my weakness. No one has ever been able to exploit it. That must have been a fluke.'

Rapidash, meanwhile, rose to his feet and uttered, "Damn, that's impressive. You touched my flames without so much as a response," Rillaboom grinning and replying, "Yeah. I often fight my best after I take in a hit from my opponent."

The unicorn was much more intrigued now, thus he said, "I had a feeling this would be difficult, but I figured Aipom would be the big threat here. Seems like this partner of hers is just as big of a problem, eh?" Dubwool grunting, "You're right. Aipom must have taught her a few good tricks. Nevertheless, we won't let that happen again, right?"

Rapidash nodded before he went down on all fours again. He then sprinted forward while Rillaboom readied herself, thinking, 'So just like Rapidight, he has an incredibly limited move set. I can take full advantage of that.'

Aipom watched Dubwool closely when she also charged toward her. But just as she was ready to deliver another punch, the ram suddenly curved her cheek horns downward. Before Aipom could respond, Dubwool proceeded to extend them downward before one reached right between the monkey's legs.

Aipom's eyes widened when the horn curved upward and reached around, piercing her back before Dubwool exclaimed, "DOUBLE BATTERING RAM!"

The name made much more sense when she extended her upper horns forward and rammed them into Aipom's forehead. She then kept the lower horn in her back and lifted her up before racing toward Rillaboom who was just about to counter Rapidash again.

As it so happened, the unicorn's move was simply a distraction, thus he leapt to the side before the gorilla could grab him again just in time for her to take Dubwool's horns to her side. She grunted in pain before Rapidash shifted to the opposite side and performed a handstand, ramming his feet into her cheek.

With Rillaboom distracted, Dubwool retracted her upper horns and leapt into the air before Aipom could attempt to pry herself free from the lower horn. She then tucked her arms and legs into her wool, bounced into the air and flipped backwards one hundred and eighty degrees.

"RAM SUPLEX!" she exclaimed before she rammed Aipom's skull into the canvas. The monkey cried out in pain before the ram finally retracted her lower horns and flipped herself upright. While Aipom may have been smart, her tail hand was the only strong part of her body. As such, it only stood to reason that an assault like this would already leave her feeling weak.

Rillaboom saw this and gasped, "AIPOM!" before she noticed Rapidash about to strike her with a roundhouse. As such, she lifted her up arm before the leaves around her wrists spun around and transformed into barrels. Thorns then sprouted out of the sides of them just in time for the unicorn's foot to lodge itself into one.

Rapidash's eyes widened before he let out a loud cry of pain. He then fell on his side and rocked back and forth while clutching onto his bleeding ankle before Rillaboom leapt up and planted her elbow into his side.

As soon as Dubwool saw this, she released steam from her nostrils and tucked her arms and legs into her wool. She then rolled toward the gorilla and shouted, "COTTON BOULDER!" before thinking, 'I'm sure that was a fluke before, but just to be safe-'

She then propelled herself high into the air and descended toward Rillaboom, barking, "COTTON METEOR!" Luckily, the gorilla was more than ready for this, thus she knelt down on her arms and knees and sharpened her hair, preventing her from taking in any pain from the incoming attack.

The crowd stared while Dubwool's eye twitched, Rillaboom shouting, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" flipping her hair up, launching the ram high into the air. Aipom just happened to regain consciousness at this exact moment and when she saw this, she smiled with confidence.

Rillaboom did not let it end there when she leapt onto the nearest top rope and bounced up to Dubwool's level. She then whipped the vine that resembled a lock of hair forward and bound it to the ram's neck only for her to fume and bark, "I don't think so!"

She then proceeded to shift her top horns forward until they looked more like spear heads. The gorilla stared at this and thought, 'Oh, shit, she can use that too.'

However, she realized this would be even worse when the ram extended all four of her horns forward. The top ones pierced Rillaboom's shoulders while the lower ones went into her sides before Dubwool flipped backward and shouted, "RAM SKEWER SUPLEX!" trying her hardest to ignore the pain Rillaboom's vine dealt to her neck.

Aipom squeaked in panic and was just about to leap into the air to save her partner, thinking, 'Rillaboom's already done a lot for me! Now it's my turn to help her out!'

However, her eyes went wide when Rapidash leapt at her from behind and quipped, "I see you got up! That's fine by me! I'd have been disappointed if it was that easy!"

He then sent a barrage of rapid kicks with all four of his hooves into her back and shouted, "FLYING CENTAUR!" But while this certainly hurt, Aipom realized immediately how she could take advantage of this. Thus she rose her tail hand and placed a firm grip on Rapidash's left ankle before she swung her tail backward and planted his back into the canvas.

The monkey then proceeded to fling the unicorn toward Dubwool and right into her side. However, this proved ineffective when he bounced right off of her wool and landed against the mat.

'It's just as Rillaboom said,' Aipom thought before the gorilla's skull made contact with the mat, 'Her wool is insanely tough. If she hadn't told me to go for the face, I wouldn't have dealt the first hit.'

Rillaboom's vine loosened before Dubwool retracted her horns back to their original size and released her. She then ran over to Rapidash and enquired, "Are you okay?" the unicorn slowly rising to his feet and sighing, "Yeah. Seriously, that wool of yours is tough."

The ram nodded and blushed lightly, uttering, "Yeah, sorry about that." She then turned as Rillaboom pushed herself back to her feet, Aipom running over to her with concern. Dubwool narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "I gotta say, that ape really is a major threat. As if making thorns on her wrists wasn't bad enough, I wasn't expecting her hair to be so strong. And while I did manage to hit her, she still dealt considerable pain to my neck."

Rapidash blinked and uttered, "You know, I was wondering about that," Aipom whimpering, "Are you alright? I'm sorry I couldn't have been more helpful. If only I'd aimed for her face..."

"It's fine," Rillaboom replied with a light smile, "The way you countered Rapidash's kicks was amazing, just what I'd expect from you."

The monkey smiled lightly before turning toward Dubwool and Rapidash. Now was her chance to contribute, and she would certainly need to come up with something soon when the unicorn leapt onto Dubwool's back. He then proceeded to place his tail right up against the ram's wool, everyone staring while a ring of fire circled around it.

"Oh my god," Rillaboom uttered, "It's so tough that she doesn't even feel flames," Aipom narrowing her eyelids. This would be difficult, but she was certain she and the gorilla could work around this.

Rapidash once again extended his mane until it touched his horn and lit it on fire. With that, Dubwool proceeded to race toward them, both shouting, "SHARP FIREBALL!" the ram once again pointing her upper horns forward and extending her lower horns to match their length.

Aipom took a deep breath as Rillaboom enquired, "Which move should we use?" the monkey tapping her chin and saying, "I know exactly which one. Give me your hand."

The gorilla nodded and extended her right hand toward the monkey before she grabbed her with her tail hand. Needless to say, Rillaboom was beyond impressed when Aipom managed to swing her around with ease and exclaim, "MONKEY-GO-ROUND!"

Rapidash and Dubwool's eyes widened when Rillaboom held out her left arm and leg, her fist ramming into the unicorn's cheek while her foot did the same to the ram. As such, both opponents groaned in pain before Dubwool skidded sideways, Rapidash falling off of her back and landing on his side.

The crowd cheered wildly before Aipom beamed bright. Now her confidence had completely returned as she gave Rillaboom a thumb up with her tail hand and asked, "Ready to end this?"

"Hell yeah!" the gorilla replied before she held up Aipom and hurled her toward Dubwool. The ram was truly shocked when she regained focus just in time for the monkey to latch onto her forehead and propel herself high into the air.

Once high enough, the monkey flipped Dubwool upside-down and placed her tail hand against her rear end, pushing her down toward the canvas. At this moment, Rillaboom grinned and raced toward Rapidash. She then took hold of him before he had a chance to react and fell backwards against the canvas. Finally, she latched onto the unicorn's arms and legs and forced them back until his belly was pointed upward in a bridge formation.

The crowd's excitement was through the roof now. After all, this was the same move Aipom had used with Machoke to defeat Vespiquen and Smeargle in the previous tournament. To see this in action again was a real treat as Dubwool's face was pressed into Rapidash's gut, both coughing up blood while Rillaboom and Aipom shouted, "BRIDGE BOMBER!"

The gorilla and monkey released their hold and allowed their opponents to collapse before taking a deep breath and smiling at one-another. They also kept their guard up, though, just in case this had not been enough.

Luckily, it seemed as if they had nothing to fear when a bell rang after ten seconds. As such, Aipom had the biggest grin on her face while Rillaboom had a huge smile. After a couple more seconds, the gorilla rose her fists in the air while Aipom held up her tail hand in triumph.

"We did it!" Aipom squealed with excitement, "I definitely made the right choice teaming up with you!" Rillaboom chuckling, "Well, that was a brilliant strategy you came up with at the end."

The monkey blushed lightly, though deep down, she knew she would not have done quite as well if it had not been for Rillaboom. Either way, with both advancing to the first round, she would soon be able to fight in front of everyone and not just a portion of the crowd.

During this time, Shaymin and Melmetal had finally reached an exit. The hedgehog took a deep breath and said, "Well, here we are," the cyborg nodding and replying, "Sorry I couldn't be faster."

"It's fine," Shaymin said with a shrug, "Besides, what matters is beating our opponents, not making it in first. Besides, at least this way, we can see who we're up against in advance. If it's someone well known, we might be extra prepared for this since I've studied the fighting styles of all famous heroes."

When she peered her head around the opening, her eyes and mouth widened. This almost seemed like fate. The two heroes who had entered this ring before them were none other than Beedrill and Butterfree. Shaymin actually had an opportunity to face the chairman of the past.

Melmetal, meanwhile, looked at this and sighed, "Oh, darn, I was hoping it would be Dialga and Palkia," Shaymin uttering, "Oh yeah, we're trying to stop them."

She the bit her lower lip and groaned, "Whatever. I don't wanna look around forever. Let's just hope that whoever faces them can put up a good fight."

With that in mind, the hedgehog entered with Melmetal right behind her. Beedrill blinked and said, "Oh, look, honey, we finally have someone to fight."

"Thank god," the butterfly sighed, "I was getting restless," before gazing upon Shaymin and uttering, "Speak of the devil."

"Oh, hey, it's you, the wild one," Beedrill chuckled before Shaymin blushed and thought, 'Did he really have to call me that?' the wasp adding, "You know, I was actually hoping I'd get to face you at some point. It's just a shame we only have a small percentage of the audience watching us."

Melmetal looked among the bleachers and said, "He's right. Only a fraction of the audience can actually see this ring," Shaymin nodding and replying, "Well, this is probably for the best, anyway. After all, I'd feel awful beating history's youngest chairman in front of a huge crowd."

She then folded her arms with confidence and pride while Beedrill remarked, "We'll see about that," the hedgehog's smile becoming a smirk as she thought, 'That's right. Even though these two have only taken part in one recorded fight, I've watched that match more than enough times to know how their techniques. And I've also heard enough about Beedrill and Butterfree's match to know they like to get in the first move. This will be easy.'

She held her ground and turned to Melmetal, whispering, "Let them attack first," the cyborg nodding as Beedrill faced Butterfree and said in his own low voice, "They probably expect us to attack first. No matter how tempting it is, we gotta lure them out. After all, we have no idea how these two fight."

As much as it pained the butterfly to admit it, he had a point. Thus she held her ground while Shaymin bit her lower lip nervously. Melmetal gave her an odd look before she took a deep breath and whispered, "Change of tactics."

She then proceeded to explain her plan while Beedrill narrowed his eyelids. But just as he and Butterfree felt prepared for whatever their opponents had in mind, they were shocked when Melmetal extended his arms toward them like rubber and shouted, "STEEL KNUCKLES!"

Both bugs tensed up and flew up into the air just in time to avoid the incoming punches, Beedrill uttering, "Okay, so his liquid metal is stretchy, apparently," but just as he and Butterfree felt like this was all they needed to know, Shaymin proceeded to transform into a deer and spread out her ears.

Beedrill, Butterfree and the crowd were all equally shocked when she exclaimed, "SKY CLOTHESLINE!" flew upward toward the bugs and rammed her ears into their necks.

'She can transform into a flying deer?' Beedrill thought with his eyes wide open, 'What the hell is she?' he and his wife plummeting and landing skull-first against the canvas.

Seeing a golden opportunity, Melmetal said, "Sorry about this, but we need to win this," his liquid metal gurgling and vibrating. He then inflated himself like a balloon until only his shoulders and head stuck out of his body and rolled toward Beedrill and Butterfree, shouting, "LIQUID MARBLE!"

Both opponents barely stood up in time before they took the incoming strike to their faces and flew backward into the ropes. Beedrill took a deep breath and sighed, "Okay, these two are weird, but this isn't too bad. At the very least, we're both good at aerial combat."

Butterfree nodded and waited for Shaymin to fly toward them again. She then soared toward the hedgehog with her skull pointed forward and spun around like a twister, shouting, "WHIRLWIND!"

Shaymin smirked and thought, 'I'm more than ready for this,' but when she flew upward to evade the incoming strike, her eyes widened when Butterfree shifted her body upward and rammed her skull into her gut. This was just enough to catch the hedgehog off guard before the butterfly latched onto her and flipped back ninety degrees.

Melmetal gasped and readies his arms only for Beedrill to fly toward the cyborg and jab his arm stingers into his shoulder. He then exclaimed, "TWIN NEEDLE SIDE SUPLEX!" lifting Melmetal up, leaning backward and planting the side of his head into the canvas.

The crowd cheered as the back of Shaymin's head was soon slammed into the mat as well. Butterfree smiled with pride before Beedrill removed his stingers from the steel shoulder and stated, "Like you, we have no intention of losing. After all, what kind of chairman would I be if I let a couple of strangers walk all over me so easily?"

Shaymin grunted and pushed herself back to her feet after Butterfree released her. But just as she was about to get her revenge, her eyes widened when the butterfly flew a slight ways away from her and shouted, "This isn't over yet! Now face the wrath of my STUN SPORE!"

The hedgehog squeaked in panic before a smirk formed on her face and she turned to Melmetal, barking, "Hey, looks like we have a reason to use a defensive team move!"

The cyborg nodded before he reached his arms toward her, his hands gurgling. A set of fingers came out and reached past the hexagonal nuts on the fronts of said hands before he took hold of Shaymin. He pointed her skull forward and twisted his arms in a spiral formation before Butterfree released an orange powder from her wings. And once Melmetal was ready, he allowed them to spin like a windmill while Shaymin released a huge gust of wind from her ears and squealed, "EAR TWISTER!"

Butterfree and Beedrill's eyes were wide with terror when the powder blew toward them. Luckily, both had managed to fly over it in time to avoid it, but this hardly mattered when Shaymin reverted to her hedgehog form and had Melmetal hurl her toward the wasp.

Beedrill cried out in agonizing pain when Shaymin curled up into a ball and sprouted thorns along her back, shouting, "THORNY HEDGE!" large cuts forming on his body while the thorns scraped up against him.

Butterfree stared at her husband in horror before Melmetal sighed, "Again, sorry to take advantage of you," spinning the hexagonal nut on his left hand and sending it straight into her cheek, shouting, "HARD BUZZ SAW!"

Butterfree flew out of the ring and into a wall surrounding it while Shaymin folded her arms and quipped, "As if I'd fall for your Stun Spore. This move may not have been recorded, but I've heard enough about it to know how it works."

"Wait, how have you heard about it?" Beedrill enquired, Butterfree sighing, "Well, I did kinda show it off that one time. You know, when Ditto and Ditta were exposed? Someone could have told her about that," the wasp blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah."

Shaymin blinked and thought, 'Oh, right, the fight between Beedrill and Butterfree wasn't officially documented until twenty twenty. If I reveal any more info that I'm aware of, they might actually figure out I'm from the future.'

Butterfree smiled and said, "No matter. I got another skill that'll blow you away!" flying toward Shaymin while she frowned and thought, 'That's right, when Butterfree uses her Stun Spore, she can't use it for a total of seventy two hours. That means she'll likely try the one tactic no one saw from her.'

With that in mind, the hedgehog got ready only for Beedrill to fly toward her with his stringers at the ready. Shaymin squeaked and leapt away from him before Butterfree flew right over her and exclaimed, "SLEEP POWDER!" releasing a blue powder from her wings.

'Dammit, and I was prepared for that, too,' Shaymin thought before the particles sprinkled all over her and her eyelids started to drop. Melmetal also felt himself start to feel weak, thus both were out like a light. Butterfree smiled at Beedrill and said, "Well, darling, we got a minute to kick the shit out of them. Let's make this count."

The wasp nodded before he flew toward Shaymin and pierced her shoulders with his arm stingers. Butterfree, all the while, dealt an onslaught of kicks to Melmetal's skull before she latched onto his arm and swung him face-first into the turnbuckle.

Beedrill then lifted Shaymin up and shouted, "TWIN NEEDLE SUPLEX!" before he flipped over and rammed her skull into the canvas. He removed his stingers from the hedgehog and said, "Alright, darling, let's do it."

Butterfree nodded and flew over to Shaymin before Beedrill approached Melmetal. After all, the move they had in mind required both to lift up their opponents, and as much as the butterfly hated to admit it, the wasp had always been physically stronger than she was. And after she took hold of Shaymin, she turned and asked, "You ready, Beedrill?"

Her eyes widened when she noticed Beedrill's arm stingers stuck inside of Melmetal. As it so happened, he had jabbed them into the liquid metal right below his collar, thus he trembled and cried, "Oh my god, I can't get my arms out!"

Butterfree stared and uttered, "Honey?" as Shaymin slowly opened her eyes and groaned, "Oh god, I can't believe I actually let that happen."

When she noticed Butterfree holding onto her, she was just about to kick her in the gut before she saw Beedrill struggling to free his stingers from Melmetal. A smirk formed on her face before she said, "You made a big mistake there, Mr. Chairman. Melmetal's body can absorb sharp things."

Butterfree gasped, "Oh my god, you're awake!" Beedrill all the while tensing up and uttering, "What did you just say?"

Melmetal then opened his eye and looked down, saying, "Wow, I always wondered what would happen if the sharp weapon was part of someone's body," before he stood up with an implied smirk, "Still, that was smart putting me to sleep like that. Too bad it won't help in the long run."

His body then gurgled before he exclaimed, "LIQUID METAL MACHINE GUN!" releasing long protrusions from his body and sending Beedrill flying out of him and into Butterfree's face. This caused her to let go of Shaymin who took full advantage of this. She wrapped her arms around the butterfly's waist, leaned backward and planted the back of her head into the canvas while the crowd was truly amazed.

Shaymin had a big grin on her face as she released Butterfree and stood upright. She then noticed the bugs looking rather weak, thus she nodded and leapt backward toward Melmetal, shouting, "Let's end this now!"

The cyborg nodded and formed his fingers before he took hold of her again. She tucked herself into a ball before Melmetal swung his arm around like a baseball pitcher only for Beedrill and Butterfree to rise to their feet.

The wasp narrowed his eyelids and grunted, "We can't let them beat us this easily!" Butterfree nodding and replying, "Damn straight! There's one move that can beat them for sure!"

With that in mind, she took hold of Beedrill's waist and lifted him up before he pointed his arm stingers forward. The butterfly flew toward the two and spun like a twister, she and her husband exclaiming, "TWIN NEEDLE TORNADO!"

Melmetal released his hold on Shaymin before she once again formed thorns on her back and spun vertically toward them, squealing, "ROSE BUSH BASEBALL!"

Soon enough, both heroes collided while the crowd watched in awe. A bit of blood flew from Shaymin, but in the end, the momentum of Melmetal's throw proved just enough for her to overpower Beedrill and Butterfree. As such, both stopped their assault and dropped their guard. And when the hedgehog struck them, they coughed up green blood and flew away from her, landing hard against the ring on their backs.

All went silent among the crowd after Shaymin landed on her feet and breathed heavily. A light smile formed on her face, and it only got bigger when the bell rang and confirmed her and Melmetal's victory. As such, she rose her arms in the air and squealed, "OH MY GOD! I ACTUALLY BEAT THE CHAIRMAN!" Melmetal uttering, "You mean we beat him, right?" the hedgehog nodding and replying, "Yeah, of course."

Either way, she could not have felt happier. Sure, she had not defeated Dialga and Palkia, but this was certainly something to brag about when she returned to her time. But either way, she was certain that if none of the other teams could defeat the dragons this round, she and her partner would be ready for them in the next one.


	11. Chapter 11

So far, things had gone very well for the heroes from the future. However, there was still one team left, specifically Vaporeon and Zeraora. Both had been searching around the labyrinth for a long time while the cat uttered, "You do know where we're going, right?" the fox nodding and looking around.

After a while, she found a door and gasped, "Oh, look, an exit!" only for a dinosaur with a skull helmet and a dragon with axes on her cheeks to enter and cause the door to close. Thus the fox lowered her eyelids and growled curses under her breath.

The cat laughed nervously and replied, "Hey, it's alright. What matters is beating the opponent, not reaching an exit first," the fox sighing, "Right," all the while thinking, 'Still, for all I know, Dialga and Palkia could have been behind that door. I want to be the one to defeat them to badly.'

As such, she continued to look around while Zeraora searched as well. After all, he wanted to be of some use before the match began. And he soon spotted a door only for a team to enter. He lowered his ears before he noticed that the door was still open, thus he smiled, took hold of Vaporeon's shoulder and pointed at it.

The fox uttered, "What's up?" turning to face where he was pointing. Her eyes sparkled before she squealed, "Alright! Way to go, Zeraora!" patting him on the back.

"I also saw another team enter," he stated, "Although they looked pretty tough," Vaporeon thinking, 'Okay, to someone like him, any hero probably looks pretty tough, but I'm not taking my chances. We're gonna win and then I'll truly be a worthy addition to the team.'

With that in mind, she and the cat raced toward the door and entered it. And when it closed behind them, Vaporeon looked up toward the ring only to see Barbaracle and Golduck in the ring. The duck smirked and said, "Hey, look, we already got us a couple of opponents," the barnacle gazing upon them with all six of his eyes and replying, "Well, good. I was afraid we'd have to wait for a while."

Vaporeon stroked her chin and thought, 'Well, it's not Dialga and Palkia, but these two did face Machoke in the Hero Olympics and almost defeated him. Yeah, beating these two will definitely be a real accomplishment,' Zeraora all the while trembling and breathing heavily.

Much like Vaporeon, he had heard a lot about these two. It was just as Vaporeon thought. But Golduck was especially intimidating. Not only had she come close to drowning Machoke when she fought him, but she defeated her first opponent with incredible ease.

When Vaporeon turned to face the cat, he quickly cleared his throat and sported a more serious look. After all, he had gone to a lot of trouble to face his fears and finally knew how to fight. There was no way he would let these two scare him no matter how powerful they were.

With that in mind, he made his way toward the ring and climbed into it, Vaporeon curling her tail like a spring and launching herself into the air. She then landed against the mat with her arms spread out and grinned, exclaiming, "Attention, everyone! My name is Vaporeon and this is my partner, Zeraora! We're gonna blow your minds with our mad skills!"

The crowd cheered before Barbaracle uttered, "You know, I thought you looked kinda familiar, but you even have a similar name. Are you, by chance, related to the legendary Jolteon?" Vaporeon tensing up and releasing nervous sweat.

Zeraora blinked and enquired, "Something wrong?" the fox thinking, 'Okay, I can't tell them the truth. For all I know, Great Grandma Leafeon might be watching this match somewhere. If I say I'm a member of the family, she'll likely call BS on that and make me look like a liar.'

As such, she laughed nervously and uttered, "Oh, no, that's just pure coincidence. I just happen to have similar eyes. That's all."

She looked among the crowd and only saw humans seated in this particular portion. As such, she breathed a sigh of relief. There was a chance Leafeon might have been watching on TV, but she figured that would be far less nerve-wracking than having her there in person.

Either way, Golduck shrugged and said, "Oh well," striking a fighting pose, "What matters right now is that we win this match. As amazing as this opportunity is, we'd both love to have a rematch with Machoke one of these days. I may be one of his biggest fans, but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna go out of my way to defeat him, especially with my new land-based signature moves."

Barbaracle nodded and said, "Oh yeah. In case you didn't know, Golduck here used to rely on water for the majority of her best moves. Now she's developed land-based counterparts," while Vaporeon thought, 'Yes, I heard about that. That gem on her forehead can control water, but after she teamed up with Machoke in the second round of the first team tournament and had no water to manipulate, she invented a way to get around that weakness.'

Even with all of that in mind, she figured she could still win, thus she got ready herself while Zeraora tried his hardest not to look nervous. Golduck wasted no time leaping into the air before Barbaracle tilted his face upward and opened up his head. Since it doubled as a hand, he managed to grab Golduck after she landed against his face and leaned his body back.

Vaporeon smirked and whispered, "He's obviously planning on flinging her toward us. Just follow my lead," Zeraora nodding and thinking, 'Oh yeah, that's common sense. I totally knew that.'

Sure enough, Barbaracle threw his upper body forward and hurled Golduck toward Vaporeon with her bill pointed outward. Thus she exclaimed, "DUCK JET!" only for Vaporeon to kneel down along with Zeraora. She then lifted her arms up and took hold of the duck's sides right before she could pass her, exclaiming, "Quick, grab her head!"

Zeraora nodded and was just about to do that when he noticed Barbaracle leap backward into the ropes and bounce off. He then landed in front of Vaporeon and grabbed her ankles, her eyes wide with shock when he pulled back and caused her to slip and release her hold on Golduck. As such, the duck carried on forward and rammed her bill into Zeraora's gut while Barbaracle slammed Vaporeon's upper back into the canvas.

The fox's eyes were wide with shock while Barbaracle kept his grip on her and leapt high into the air with her still upside down. He then wrapped his lower arms around her torso and his legs around her head and exclaimed, "HARPOON DRIVER!" ramming her skull into the canvas.

Just seeing his partner struggling this much already reduced any confidence Zeraora had before. As such, Golduck unloaded an onslaught of palm punches into his face while he was distracted before she wrapped her arms around him and hurled him toward Barbaracle. The barnacle turned his upper arms around so the eyes on them could gaze upon the cat, thus he flipped Vaporeon upright and made sure her face was right up against the rock on his upper body.

Once he saw Zeraora get close enough, he tucked in his middle arms, stood on the tips of his toes and spun like a top before he spat, "STONE EDGE!" Sure enough, his stone scraped against Vaporeon and sent her flying backward before Zeraora rammed into the same spot. His eyes were wide with terror as from just this one hit, he had already coughed up blood.

After he fell on his back and skidded across the mat, he started to feel weak. He simply could not believe it. He knew the heroes in the tournament would be tough, but he did not imagine he would be this unprepared for his first real match. As such, he lay there and panted heavily while Vaporeon slowly rose to her feet, her body trembling all over.

'Oh my god!' she thought, 'I heard Barbaracle was really tough, but my god! He could give Corviknight a run for his money!'

However, she was even more mortified by the state Golduck had left Zeraora in. As such, she frowned and grunted, "Alright, you're definitely as amazing as I'd heard you were! But don't think for a minute that means you've won!"

Golduck blinked and uttered, "Oh, you've really heard about us?" Barbaracle chuckling, "It's funny, ever since our losses to Machoke, people don't think about us all that often. It's just so nice to hear someone say that."

After a few seconds, the duck blinked and said, "Right, we still have a match to finish," before racing toward Vaporeon. Barbaracle, meanwhile, knelt down with his head clenched into a fist. He then raced toward Golduck and barked, "SKULL PUNCH!"

The fox took a deep breath when she saw this and thought, 'Alright, come on, Vaporeon. You're better than this. Corviknight was far worse and you still beat him. Remember, your father was raised in a circus and you mom was Tokyo's best hero at the time. You can do this, with or without a partner.'

As such, she waited for Golduck to get close before she knelt down and latched onto her ankle with her tail. She then yanked backward and caused the duck to fall on her back. Then once Barbaracle was close enough, the fox lifted Golduck up in front of her like a shield, her eyes and bill wide with terror when the barnacle's skull knuckles rammed into her gut.

The duck coughed up a bit of phloem and groaned, "I should have seen that coming," before Vaporeon curled her tail like a spring. The crowd watched in awe when she bounced into the air, leaned back and planted the back of Golduck's head into the mat, squealing, "TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!"

The duck released one last cry of pain before Vaporeon released her. Barbaracle stood upright and opened up his head before he noticed the duck's condition and gasped, "OH MY GOD, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!?"

He then examined her long enough to notice a fist imprint on her gut and uttered, "Oh. Why did I not think that would happen?" before frowning and racing toward Vaporeon with his upper arms raised and his lower arms ready to grab her.

Vaporeon smirked and said, "Too easy," diving forward with her arms out and ramming them into the barnacle's ankles. All six of his eyes widened when he flew into the air, and while Vaporeon could have easily set him up for a suplex as well, she knew far better than to try that against him since he could use his face to soften the blow.

With that in mind, she leapt up to his level and formed a sphere of ice around her tail. Then when she reached his height, she spun her body around and rammed the ice into his side before she exclaimed, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!"

The crowd had to admit, they were truly impressed by this. After all, Machoke had a much more difficult time trying to hit Barbaracle when he fought him back in the day, so this felt like a true miracle. But nonetheless, it seemed as if Vaporeon stood a chance as she landed against the mat with a grin and Barbaracle fell hard against the surface.

The fox then ran over to Zeraora and looked down at him before she asked, "Hey, you okay?" the cat finally regaining focus while he shook his head and took a deep breath. He then pushed himself upright and gazed upon Barbaracle and Golduck, uttering, "Wow, did you do all that?"

The fox nodded and replied, "Yeah, but I get the feeling that probably wasn't enough to finish them off." She then took hold of Zeraora's hand and helped him back to his feet before she said, "Brace yourself. I'm not sure if I can pull all of that off a second time."

Deep down, Zeraora could not help but feel like Vaporeon only said that to make him feel like he was still a valuable part of the team. Even after all of his training, it seemed as if she did not need him at all and she was now taking pity on him.

But even so, he also had a feeling she would scold him if he tried to back out. As such, he took a deep breath and put on a serious look, saying, "Alright, I can do this. Just give me a bit of direction, alright?"

The fox smiled and nodded before Barbaracle and Golduck rose to their feet. Both took many deep breaths while staring at Vaporeon, the duck grunting, "I have to admit, that was incredible. It's just like when I fought alongside Machoke in the Ultimate World Team Tournament quarter-finals back in the day. He was out cold and I managed to fight off both of our opponents all by myself."

Barbaracle nodded and said, "I'll admit, this Vaporeon is an interesting fighter. Her style's not quite as predictable as I was expecting. Not only that, but we haven't seen what that cat is capable of yet."

Golduck nodded before she and the barnacle raced toward their opponents. Barbaracle held up his upper hands before the duck leapt onto them, allowing him to launch her into the air. She then descended toward Zeraora with her feet out, and while this seemed like a more simple tactic than what she had used up to this point, so far, the cat had not really displayed any impressive skills.

Vaporeon also realized that, thus she frowned and said, "Grab her legs once she's close enough and hit her with a giant swing," before she noticed Barbaracle once again headed toward her with his skull fist aimed at her.

The cat watched Golduck and thought, 'I can do this. I prepared myself for this,' before he threw his arms out and grabbed hold of the duck's ankles. Then, as instructed, he swung her around in a circle before he released her and sent her head-first into the turnbuckle.

Vaporeon, all the while, attempted to dodge Barbaracle's incoming strike, but since he could still see her with his hands, he easily noticed this and reached down before taking hold of her tail. Zeraora would have noticed this and done something had he not been distracted by the sight of Golduck right up against the turnbuckle.

All he could do was stare and think, 'Did I just pull that off?' only for his train of thought to end when Vaporeon squeaked, "ZERAORA, LOOK OUT!" the cat turning just in time for Barbaracle to swing the fox into his face like a flail.

As such, he cried out in pain and fell on his back before the barnacle noticed his partner recover from the blow dealt earlier and hurled Vaporeon toward her. Seeing this, the duck smirked and leapt up before she latched her ankles around the fox's neck and forced her to fly away from the ropes. Golduck then leaned backward and took hold of Vaporeon's ankles, flipping one hundred and eighty degrees and shouting, "ICE ROCK DRIVER!"

The crowd cheered when the fox's skull hit the canvas hard before she coughed up a bit of blood and closed her eyes. Golduck released her and allowed her to collapse, her body laying there in a heap. There was no doubt in the duck's mind that the fox would not get up any time soon.

To make matters worse, Zeraora was unable to do a thing about this since Barbaracle had lifted him up during all of this and placed his back against his face, which was now tilted upward. The barnacle proceeded to spin him around and exclaim, "PIZZA DOUGH TOSS!" hurling him high into the air before Golduck leapt up toward him.

Zeraora's eyes and mouth were wide open as he thought, 'Oh my god, I was not prepared for this at all. Fighting off a bully is one thing, but two heroes? What was I thinking?'

Golduck reached his level at this moment and flipped him upside down before she planted her knees into his back like a regular duck sitting down. But at that moment, Zeraora gritted his teeth and growled, thinking, 'No, I can't give up now! I went to all this trouble to be taken seriously and Vaporeon's done so much for me! I will not let her efforts be in vain!'

With that in mind, he let out a loud battle cry, everyone staring in shock when electricity coursed through his tail. A blue aura surrounded it now while he swung it backwards into the side of Golduck's head, shouting, "LIGHTNING SLASH!"

Just as the name suggested, this not only dealt a big shock to her but also put a big cut on the part that had been struck. As such, she fell sideways off of Zeraora and flipped upside down. When the cat saw this, he wasted no time wrapping his arms and legs around her midsection and upper back respectively, and since she was a hero and could handle this, he lashed out the claws on his hands and feet and planted them into her skin.

"FELINE PILEDRIVER!" he barked before he rammed her skull into the canvas, the crowd truly amazed by all of this. The cat took many deep breaths with fury still on his face, Barbaracle staring at this in horror.

When Zeraora released Golduck, her head was stuck in the material. And it was at this moment that the cat finally realized what he had just pulled off, his anger turning to shock. His eyes were wide and his jaw was dropped while he held his paws up in front of his face and looked at the blood on his claws.

'Oh my god,' he thought as he panted heavily, 'Did I just knock someone out?' before he looked up and noticed Barbaracle narrow his eyes and grunt, "I gotta say, I was right to be concerned about you. I knew you were hiding something."

"Um, in my defence, I'm not completely sure how I did all of that," Zeraora uttered only for the barnacle to fold his arms inward and stand on the tips of his toes, saying, "Well, Golduck already knocked out your friend. I guess this evens the playing field."

However, it seemed as if his assumption was wrong when Vaporeon finally regained consciousness and noticed the barnacle set up his Stone Edge a second time. Thus she frowned and grunted, "I don't think so!" before leaping onto the top rope and bouncing off.

She then formed another sphere of ice around the tip of her tail and flipped vertically toward the barnacle. Sure enough, since his arms were folded, he could not see her coming, thus she rammed the ice hard into his skull right before he could advance forward.

The crowd stared in stunned silence and a bit of blood flew out of Barbaracle's skull while Vaporeon barked, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

The barnacle's eyes were wide open while he fell forward and landed hard against the mat. Vaporeon took many deep breaths and stared down at him after she landed, Zeraora pursing his lip nervously. After all, he had no idea if he would be able to pull off what he had against Golduck a second time.

Vaporeon suddenly noticed the duck at that exact moment and stared in stunned silence. To think her skull was lodged into the mat and her feet were both pointed high into the air. Thankfully, this did seem to count as her having been knocked down, thus after ten seconds passed, the bell rang.

"Wait, what was that?" Zeraora uttered before Vaporeon turned to him with a big smile and tears in her eyes. She then bit her lower lip and squealed, "That's the bell! It means we won! We actually won!"

This particular section of the bleachers erupted with cheers and applause while those watching the other rings could not help but wonder what had happened to garner such an enthusiastic response. Zeraora's eyes widened for a few seconds before a big grin crossed his face. He then gave Vaporeon a tight hug and shouted, "OH MY GOD! I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!"

He then jumped up and down a few times before Vaporeon chuckled and patted him on the back. While she was happy that they had won, she also felt beyond proud of the cat right now. He had clearly entered the match with far less confidence than he showed and yet in the end, it was partly thanks to him that things had turned out so favourably.

Both then plopped down on the mat and breathed heavily, Zeraora uttering, "I knew this was gonna be tough, but man, that was tough," the fox nodding and replying, "Get used to it. That's the life of a hero."

Although while Vaporeon was happy about all of this, now she could not help but wonder how the others had done. She was also curious as to who had gotten Dialga and Palkia as their opponents.

As it so happened, during all of this, the dragons had been up against Diancie and Hawlucha. And unfortunately, things did not look particularly good. The sylph and parrot were both covered in cuts and bruises while the dragons barely looked like they had taken in any pain at all.

"Maldita sea!" Hawlucha cursed with his teeth gritted, "These dos are really tough!" Diancie nodding and uttering, "Beedrill should have hired them as bodyguards, not advisers."

Dialga smirked and turned to Palkia, saying, "If this is truly the best this time line has to offer, we got nothing to worry about," the purple dragon nodding and readying her claws.

However, Diancie would not give up so easily, thus she turned to Hawlucha and sighed, "I think we'll need to try our best move, but we need to get these two into position," groaning, "If only Hoopa hadn't destroyed my head diamonds. This would be so much easier with those."

With that in mind, the parrot smiled reassuringly, nodded and leapt atop Diancie's shoulders. He then jumped off of her with his arms out, Dialga sighing, "He's seriously trying that again?"

However, it seemed as if this was merely a distraction when the sylph placed her hands against the mat and shouted, "GEM GROWTH!" two massive gems shooting up right under the dragons and launching them into the air. With that, Hawlucha flew forward and into Palkia's gut, shouting, "FLYING PRESS!"

This caused her to gasp before the parrot propelled himself away from her and allowed her to land hard on her back. Diancie then transformed her legs into a pink crystal and floated up to where Hawlucha was. When he saw her, he spread out his legs and allowed his feet to land atop her shoulders.

The sylph then flew right over Dialga who stared at this in shock. Hawlucha proceeded to hold his arms against his sides before throwing them upward, the momentum allowing him and Diancie to descend much more quickly while they exclaimed, "DIAMOND METEOR!"

The crystal lodged itself into the blue dragon's gut, but while he showed slight pain from this, it seemed as if he was prepared. Thus he lifted his arms and planted his claws into the crystal's sides. Diancie and Hawlucha both stared in horror when he used all his might to pry it out of his gut and hurl both opponents into the mat.

Diancie and Hawlucha's backs hit the surface hard before they groaned in pain, Dialga landing next to Palkia and saying, "Come on, let's show them our team move."

The purple dragon nodded with a smirk before she lifted her partner up by his shoulders and flew high into the air. She then flipped herself and Dialga upside down and turned him around so the two of them faced each other. Both held their arms out and descended toward the parrot and sylph. Palkia's skin turned dark purple and a pink glow covered her claws while Dialga had a sky blue aura around him.

"SPACE TIME DRILL!" they exclaimed before they started to spin like the object in question. Hawlucha and Diancie had both regained focus just in time to see both, their eyes wide with terror when they took in the claws.

Blood rained from them like a fountain while they cried out in agonizing pain, the crowd watching in horror. As it so happened, both Hawlucha and Diancie were quite popular among the citizens of Tokyo, so to see them lose this easily was difficult to take in.

After a few seconds, Dialga and Palkia ended their assault and flipped upright. They did not even need to look down at their opponents. They knew they had won, and this was soon validated when the bell rang, Palkia raising her fists in the air while Dialga simply folded his arms with a smile.

Needless to say, the dragons were certainly strong. Could anyone truly stop them? Only time would tell.


	12. Chapter 12

While the heroes of Edmonton and Tokyo had all come out on top, Dialga and Palkia would also advance to the official first round of the tournament. But either way, there were still plenty of other teams left, and the crowd could not wait to see who would also compete.

In one ring, Lucario and Clauncher were up against Talonflame and Scyther. While the dog and falcon were good friends, neither one of them would let up. This was certainly made clear when Talonflame flapped his wings and sent a barrage of kicks toward Lucario's face.

However, the dog was more than prepared for this, thus he held up his wrists and pointed them backward. As a result, the falcon's feet wound up pierced when they ran into the spikes.

However, it seemed as if Talonflame was prepared for this when he latched onto Lucario's wrists and flew high above the mat. His entire body caught flame while he performed a U-turn and shouted, "FLARE BLITZ!"

All the while, Clauncher was held up by Scyther. The bug had formed a pair of blades on her arms and was currently swinging them at the shrimp, shouting, "ARM SCHWERT!"

Clauncher blocked the strikes with her big claw as best as she could, though it had proven to be only slightly effective. While the claw did not bleed, it had a lot of scratches on it and right now, her eyelids were starting to sag.

But when she looked up and noticed Lucario in trouble, she put on a more serious look. Scyther, however, snapped, "Hey, don't turn your back to your opponent!" swinging her blade again only for the shrimp to open her claw and catch the blade without even looking at it.

Scyther's eyes widened with terror before the shrimp lifted her up, the audience truly in awe. They had all completely forgotten just how strong she was for her size, and this was certainly favourable as it allowed her to swing Scyther around before she flung her toward Talonflame.

The falcon's eyes widened when his partner soared right into his side and caused him to release Lucario. Thus the dog flipped himself right side up and wrapped her arms and legs around Talonflame, barking, "CANINE HUG SLAM!"

The crowd cheered when he drove Talonflame's skull into the canvas and leapt back toward Clauncher with a smile. The two then shared a brief high five before Scyther landed on her feet and grunted, "I have to admit, Lucario, that partner of yours really is incredible."

Clauncher chuckled, "Oh, you're too kind. You two are pretty amazing as well," Talonflame flipping upright and retorting, "Pretty amazing? We're saucesome!"

'Saucesome?' Lucario thought with a look of confusion, 'The hell does that mean?' before Scyther spread out her wings and grunted, "Alright, let's show them that team move they didn't get to see before."

Talonflame nodded and took to the sky along with her. Both then held hands before the falcon lit himself on fire. After that, they spun toward their opponents and whipped up a twister made entirely out of fire, shouting, "ARM SCHWERT INFERNO!"

Lucario narrowed his eyelids and said, "Not bad, but we can defeat that easily, right?" Clauncher nodding and replying, "I know just how to do it, too."

With that in mind, the shrimp curled up into a ball before Lucario picked her up and reeled his foot back. He then swung it upward into her and exclaimed, "CRUSTACEAN FOOTBALL!" sending her into the air while everyone started in confusion. But while it seemed like the dog had somehow missed his target, it became clear why he aimed upward when Clauncher descended downward like an asteroid and landed hard against Scyther's skull.

This was just enough for her to cough up blood and break formation, thus Talonflame found himself losing control. With that, Lucario raced toward the falcon and grabbed hold of him. He leapt high into the air and flipped the now dazed falcon upside-down, pressed his knees up against his feet and barked, "COLLAPSING TOWER!"

The back of Talonflame's head hit the canvas hard as he coughed up blood and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Lucario leapt off of him and allowed him to collapse while Clauncher wrapped her arms around Scyther's waist. She then smiled at Lucario and nodded before he returned the gesture and leapt toward the bug.

Clauncher leapt into the air and leaned backward before the dog descended toward Scyther and planted his feet into her chin. Thus he and his partner shouted, "SHARP BACKDROP!" the bug's skull hitting the canvas hard.

Scyther let out one last cry of pain before Clauncher released her and allowed her to collapse. And after ten seconds, their victory was confirmed as they rose an arm in the air each. Lucario then looked down at Talonflame and enquired, "Hey, you okay, buddy?" the falcon's eyes rolling back into place before he pushed himself up and remarked, "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Scyther was also alright as she sat upright and rubbed her skull. Clauncher smiled and held out her tiny claw before she said, "You were just as amazing as I thought you'd be," the bug smiling and shaking her claw.

In another ring, a blue turtle with a squirrel tail named Squirtle and a cyborg with a spherical head with a single eye and two magnets on his cheeks named Magnemite were up against two boys with rocky skin and karate gis named Throh and Sawk. Throh was rather stocky and red while Sawk was tall, slender and blue

Both seemed to dominate their opponents when Sawk lay into Magnemite with an onslaught of karate chops. All the while, Throh lifted up Squirtle and leapt backward, planting her skull into the canvas. However, it seemed that the cyborg was prepared for this as he took hold of Sawk's wrists and pointed his magnets backward.

"SONIC BOOM!" he exclaimed before unleashing a shock wave from the magnets and launching himself forward. He then yelled, "Squirtle, it's time for tactic two hundred and thirteen!" the turtle nodding and tucking herself into her shell. She then spun it around and forced Throh to release her before she landed behind him and spun into his ankles, barking, "SHELL SPIN HOCKEY PUCK!"

This caused Throh to trip and fly backward just in time for Sawk's back to make contact with his, both gasping in pain before Magnemite released his hold. This allowed Sawk to fall forward and collapse before his brother fell on top of him.

When their victory was confirmed, the crowd cheered as Squirtle rose her arms in the air, squealing, "We actually won a match!" Magnemite folding his arms and replying, "Well, naturally. With your strength and my intellect, is it really that surprising?"

"Dude, have you seen our track record?" the turtle remarked before the cyborg released a nervous sweat drop.

Sure enough, more and more teams fell. The purple lizard with a yellow underbelly and electric frills, Toxtricity, defeated an otter with a sky blue body and snow white head and a dark brown mole with a blade sticking out of his forehead and tribal marking on his cheek with the help of his twin sister, Sutorinda. The only difference between him and her was that her underbelly and frills were blue.

They ultimately came out on top with a move that involved them flying toward their opponents and holding each other's hands and feet to form a wheel shape. They then spun like a buzz saw and sliced open both opponents, calling the move Lightning Saw.

Smeargle and Florges were also up against the dinosaur with a skull on her head, Cubone, and the yellow dragon with axes on his cheeks, Haxorus. The dinosaur and dragon were both rather weak, thus the flower woman and beagle felt fully confident.

Smeargle ran over to Haxorus, leapt behind him and wrapped two of his tails around his wrists and the third around both of his legs. He then held him up and flipped him backward before he pulled back hard, causing his back to bend.

Florges, meanwhile, held up Cubone before flower petals formed around her arms. She then used them to launch her toward Haxorus as the flower woman and Smeargle exclaimed, "PETAL CANNON!"

Cubone ran hard into Haxorus, both coughing up blood before passing out while the crowd went wild. Smeargle rose his arms in the air with a big smile before Florges walked over and kissed him on the cheek. Needless to say, this was a pretty big deal considering the beagle used to be one of the weakest heroes on Earth.

In another ring, Scrafty and Bisharp were up against a light-brown horseshoe crab with sickles for hands named Kabutops and a pangolin with sharp claws and spikes along her back named Sandslash. While both had put up a good fight, in the end, Bisharp had caught Kabutops' arms and ankles and was currently on his back with the horseshoe crab aimed upward in a bridge formation.

Scrafty sent Sandslash high above the ring before he planted his knees into the back of her neck and sent her belly hard into her partner's. This caused Kabutops to fall backward into Bisharp's bladed rib cage, thus resulting in his back being pierced.

The crowd cheered while the pangolin and crab coughed up blood and passed out, Scrafty and Bisharp exclaiming, "IRON MAIDEN!" Sure enough, ten seconds passed and their victory was assured, the crowd going wild.

Meanwhile, a short cream-coloured girl with a long black ponytail with jaws like that of an alligator named Mawile and a red octopus known as Octillery were up against two opponents of their own. One was a bright pink girl made entirely out of whipped cream with two looped bangs decorated with a strawberry each. Her partner was a golem made of various square shaped and rectangular stones. His legs were enormous and brown on the bottom while the rest of his body, which was essentially a head with arms, was much smaller. These two were Alcremie and Stonjourner respectively.

Mawile and Octillery seemed to have the upper hand when the girl leapt toward Alcremie and exclaimed, "ALLIGATOR JAW!" the ponytail opening her mouth and biting into the cream girl's face. All the while, Octillery had Stonjourner's arms trapped in place while she beat away at his face and stated, "Good job, Mawile and Mrs. Futakuchi!"

As it so happened, Mawile's ponytail was actually a reincarnation of her mother who had died saving the life of another child. And together, both family members made for quite an impressive team.

But just as it seemed like they had this match in the bag, the ponytail tensed up and found herself unable to move her jaws. On top of that, Alcremie seemed to have felt no pain at all when she smiled and asked, "I'm sorry, is this supposed to hurt?"

Stonjourner blinked and uttered, "Oh, Alcremie, you're okay," only for the cream girl to sigh, "Please, you know something like this won't effect me."

She then lifted up her hands and placed them against Mawile's ponytail while Octillery stared with concern. This was just enough for Stonjourner to gasp, "Oh, right!" before flipping his legs up like the pages of a book and planting them into the octopus' back.

This caused her to release him before he lowered his feet back to the canvas and wrapped his arms around her, shouting, "FALLING ROCK DRIVER!" He flipped her upside-down and rose his legs backward, pointing his feet into the air and allowing himself to drop toward the mat. This allowed Octillery's skull to hit the canvas hard, thus she coughed up blood and passed out.

Alcremie, all the while, puffed up her cheeks, inflated the size of her arms and used them to pry open the ponytail's jaws. She then lifted Mawile up over her and leaned backward, planting her skull and her mother's back into the canvas.

With that, Mawile and the ponytail both cried out in pain and lost consciousness as well, Alcremie and Stonjourner's victory confirmed. Thus the cream girl rose her arms in the air and squealed, "ALRIGHT! JUST ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS GLORY!" Stonjourner lifting up his own arm and uttering, "Yay."

Meanwhile, a pale purple boy with ridges on his head and brown shorts and shoes named Tyrogue and a three-headed kiwi known as Dodrio were up against a large red and black centipede named Scolipede and a floating rock with arms named Geodude. While Tyrogue and Dodrio had put up a good fight, in the end, both seemed at a major disadvantage when Scolipede rolled into them with what appeared to be green saw blades made of energy attached to her shoulders.

She struck each one with a blade and exclaimed, "CENTIPEDE STEAMROLLER!" putting a big gash on each one's torso. Thus blood flew out from the opponents before they passed out.

Geodude grinned and said, "That was awesome, Scolipede," the centipede nodding with a proud smile and replying, "But of course. Together, we'll definitely win this tournament."

This left one last pair of teams. One of the fighters in the ring was a sentient sword with ghostly black arms that had purple fingers, a golden blade with a white rim and a handle that looked more like a striated spike. Her name was Aegislash. Her partner was a black zebra with white stripes and a mane shaped like a lightning bolt named Blitzle.

One opponent was a green rose with white petals that represented hair, a leafy green cape and a red bouquet of flowers for a right hand and a blue bouquet for the left. Her name was Roserade. Her partner was a pile of purple sludge named Grimer.

It seemed as if both made for a very good team when Grimer stretched out his arms and trapped Blitzle in place, the zebra gasping, "MY WORD! This ugly, disgusting monstrosity has me in its slimy grip! Alas, Aegislash, go on without me!" the sword blocking an incoming strike from Roserade, who had formed thorns all over her body, with her arms, grunting, "Must you always be such a drama queen?"

All the while, she noticed her hand start to bleed while she narrowed her single eye and thought, 'I wish I still had my shield,' Roserade noticing she had dropped her guard. Thus she covered her blue bouquet in a bright orange sphere and rammed it into the sword's face, shouting, "WEATHER BALL!"

This sent Aegislash flying backward toward the ropes. However, when she noticed this, she implied a smirk and said, "Big mistake." She then tilted her body back and allowed herself to hit the material and bounce off with her blade pointed straight toward Roserade.

The rose girl's eyes widened when a dark energy surrounded Aegislash's blade and she exclaimed, "SACRED STAB!" jamming it into Roserade's gut.

The rose girl coughed up blood before Grimer gasped, "Roserade!" and released his hold on Blitzle. Thus the zebra took a deep breath and grunted, "Right!" before he went down on all fours and charged toward him with electric sparks covering the tip of his mane.

"WILD CHARGE!" he yelled before ramming it into Grimer's back. This caused the sludge to cry out in pain before he and Roserade were forced up against one-another, Aegislash and Blitzle shouting, "SACRED CHARGE!"

Both opponents coughed up blood and passed out, thus Aegislash and Blitzle's victory had been confirmed as they rose their arms in the air. The zebra took many deep breaths and stated, "I dare say, hearing people cheer for us is amazing!" Aegislash nodding and sighing, "And to think, years ago, we tried to enslave this world."

Once all of the matches were finished, Nori looked at a little screen that showed her this and exclaimed, "Alright, folks, that concludes the elimination round! Now we officially have the sixteen teams that will compete in the main event!"

The crowd was truly curious when all of the barricades were lowered to reveal the teams left standing. When Blaziken, Drizzile and Rillaboom saw each other still standing, they all grinned while Vaporeon was happy to see that they all won their matches. And of course, when the trio spotted her and Zeraora standing tall and proud with Barbaracle out cold and Golduck's skull lodged in the canvas, their happiness grew.

However, they were even more amazed when they saw that Morgrem and Rolycoly had defeated their first opponents. While Scorbunny had a feeling they would win, the others were not entirely sure. But they were certainly ecstatic about this as it meant all six friends would get to compete.

Melmetal was also glad as he stated, "Well, look at that. They all advanced," Shaymin much more focused on Dialga and Palkia right now. As if the fact that they had won their match with nary a scratch on them was not enough, they just happened to have been in a ring located right next to theirs. With that in mind, Shaymin gritted her teeth and thought, 'Dammit, if we had just checked one more door, we could have faced them!'

Dialga turned to face the hedgehog and groaned, "Great, the pest actually won her match," only for Palkia to shrug and reply, "Big deal. If we fight her in the first round, we can easily beat her again," the blue dragon blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah, I did say that, didn't I?"

Since Beedrill and Butterfree had not taken in too much damage from their match with Aipom and Rillaboom, they both flew toward the announcer's booth and took a seat. Nori blinked and sighed, "Let me guess, you lost, didn't you?"

The butterfly narrowed her eyes while Beedrill sighed, "Yeah, but hey, at least that means we get to state how the order works," Butterfree grumbling, "Yeah, because that's much more exciting than advancing to the actual tournament."

The wasp patted his wife on the shoulder before he tapped the microphone and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, each section of you has just witnessed one exciting match, but in just three days from now, the main event will begin! Therefor it only seems right to decide the order of the matches right now!"

"Wait, really?" Morgrem uttered, "We don't have to come back tomorrow to watch a pinball machine or something else decide that?" Rolycoly groaning, "Come on, we just finished a match. I don't wanna be launched out of a cannon or shot at a target or what-have-you."

The others were equally curious, many others sharing the small golem's sentiment. Though thankfully, it seemed as if they would not have to endure anything along those lines when Butterfree explained, "Actually, we don't really need to decide the order, because it's already been decided. See, the matches will take place based off of which ring each qualifier is standing in."

The heroes and audience looked at the rings in particular while Beedrill explained, "Basically, the order will go from left to right, meaning whichever team is currently in the ring on the far left-hand side will go up against whoever is in the ring beside it, and it will continue in that order until we get to the team standing on the far-right ring."

Zeraora looked to the right and uttered, "Wait a minute, I just realized something. We're in the far left ring," Vaporeon's eyes sparkling before she formed a wide grin and squealed, "Oh my god! That means we get to be in the first match!"

The cat tensed up and tried his hardest to look as excited as the fox did. After such an impressive victory, he should have felt ready, but it was as he said. He was still not entirely sure how he had knocked out Golduck. And to make matters worse, their next two opponents looked tough as well.

Next to them were Scolipede and Geodude. The centipede turned to face them with a smile on her face and said, "Well, this should be fun," the rock planting his fist into his palm.

Scorbunny and Blaziken, meanwhile, stood beside the ring where Alcremie and Stonjourner had fought. When the chicken noticed Octillery and Mawile both in a heap, she frowned and grunted, "We can beat these two easily, right?"

The rabbit nodded and replied, "Damn straight," a big smile on her face while Stonjourner tensed up and whimpered, "Oh my god! Our next opponent is Blaziken! She once beat a rock snake four times my height!" only for the cream girl to pat the tall golem on the side of his leg and coaxingly say, "It's okay, Stonjourner. We can beat them."

Gallade turned to the ring next to his and stared in shock. He could not believe his next two opponents were Smeargle and Florges. After all, both were really good childhood friends from his hometown of Paris. Drizzile noticed this and bowed his head to the side, Smeargle and Florges smiling and returning the gesture. Needless to say, both looked rather forward to facing Gallade in the first round.

Morgrem and Rolycoly were to go up against Toxtricity and Sutorinda. After their victory, Morgrem felt much more confident as did the small golem. After all, these two lizards may have looked scary, but the goblin and her partner had dealt with worse in the past.

Of course, as soon as Shaymin heard the rule for the order, a big smirk formed on her face before she turned to face Dialga and Palkia. She could not believe her luck. Even though she had not gotten a chance to face them in the elimination round, she could still fight them in the official first round.

All the while, the dragons faced her with confidence. It was just as Palkia said. Shaymin was hardly a threat to them at all.

Rillaboom and Aipom would face Magnemite and Squirtle after that. The monkey grinned and said, "Yeah, we got this," the gorilla nodding and pounding her fist against Aipom's tail fist.

Lucario and Clauncher noticed they were up against Aegislash and Blitzle. While the dog was fully aware of the fact that these two were on the side of good now, he had not entirely forgotten about the time the zebra rendered him and Talonflame useless by trapping them both inside an electric cage. But even so, he would try his best not to let that motivate him since it would be petty to do so.

Clauncher, meanwhile, just looked forward to another match. After all, when not fighting opponents, she always tried to be as chill as possible.

This left Machoke and Gardevoir to face Bisharp and Scrafty in the final match of round one. Needless to say, both could not believe this. After all, Scrafty was the first fighter Gardevoir ever defeated on Earth while Bisharp was Machoke's second.

And of course, when the knight and salamander gazed upon them, a big grin formed on Scrafty's face before Bisharp bowed his head. All four heroes certainly looked forward to this.

"Well, now that the order has been decided, everyone can head home or wherever else they may be staying," Nori stated, "Remember, though, in three days from now, the first match will begin at ten in the morning. I hope to see you all here."

And with that, the stadium was soon cleared out. The heroes were all off to their hotels, save for Machoke and Gardevoir, who still lived in Tokyo. They also invited Aipom to stay with them, but she felt it would be more beneficial to spend her time with Rillaboom since the gorilla was her partner.

Scyther and Talonflame bowed their heads in respect to Lucario. But while the falcon would certainly stick around for the dog's next match, Scyther figured she may as well return home. After all, her human wife, Reika, would likely want to watch the rest of the tournament on TV with her now that she was no longer competing.

Of course, Vaporeon's friends all gathered around her to congratulate each other on their victories, Zeraora feeling beyond nervous. That tension rose when the fox pulled him in for a group hug, Scorbunny squealing, "I wish I could have seen your match!"

"Well, we'll get to see them in three days," Rillaboom replied as Morgrem nodded and said, "I can't wait to see what kind of skills you have, Zeraora."

The cat blushed and uttered, "Oh, um, thanks," rubbing the back of his head. He then blinked and spotted Golduck and Barbaracle slowly pass them. Despite all the damage they had taken in, somehow they were still able to get back up.

The cat felt a sense of dread until both opponents gave him and Vaporeon's thumbs up. Much like when Machoke defeated them back in the day, both had gained a great deal of respect for the two after this match. As such, Zeraora smiled and returned the gesture, Vaporeon soon spotting this and bowing her head.

Shaymin, all the while, looked at this and said, "I'm debating whether or not we should stay here after we kick Dialga and Palkia's asses, Melmetal."

The cyborg blinked and turned to her before she sighed, "It's like, on one hand, there's really no point in sticking around, but they seem to be having fun. And you know, if those two villains are dealt with, there's really nothing to stress out over, right?"

Melmetal uttered, "I dunno, I feel like the longer we stay here, the more likely someone is to reveal that we're from the future," the hedgehog narrowing her eyelids and retorting, "Why were you looking at me when you said that?" the cyborg blinking in confusion.

Either way, things had gone well so far, but even so, Dialga and Palkia had won their match easily. Could Shaymin and Melmetal truly defeat them? And how would the others fare?


	13. Chapter 13

The elimination round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament had come to a close and all of the heroes from the future along with their partners had come out on top. Needless to say, they could not have been happier. And while they could not forget why they had all come to the past in the first place, right now they felt like celebrating.

All of them were assembled at the Tokyo Day Club since they still had two hours before the evening came around. Zeraora was beyond nervous as he sat on a sofa with all these other heroes near him. Sure, he felt fine around Vaporeon's friends, but to think he was hanging out with Machoke and his friends as well.

The reptilian man held up a glass and exclaimed, "Here's to all of us qualifying!" the group clinking their glasses together before Gallade gulped down a bit of his drink, exclaiming, "I haven't felt this happy since my wedding day!"

Gardevoir nodded and squealed, "I wish I could have seen it!" the green man sighing, "Yeah, it was a thing of beauty. Still, though, I probably wouldn't have won as easily if not for my amazing partner."

Despite Gallade having said this multiple times already, this still made Drizzile blush while he bit his lower lip out of embarrassment. But even so, he still could not believe that he had gotten such an opportunity. As such, he took a deep breath, nodded and said, "Yeah. I'll make sure we both make it to the top."

Blaziken grinned and chuckled, "Still, Gallade, I imagine you must have helped out a lot," Drizzile nodding and replying, "Of course he did," Machoke saying nothing while Gardevoir gave her brother a big hug from the side.

Scorbunny took a sip of some carrot juice only for Blaziken to pat her atop the head, stating, "Still, can your super awesome partner compare to mine? Seriously, it's like fate brought us together," the rabbit placing her hands against her cheeks and swaying her body left and right.

Aipom took a sip of fruit punch and said, "You know, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that Rillaboom actually helped me more than I helped her," the others staring at the gorilla who simply chuckled, "No way. You helped me out plenty."

"You should have seen Morgrem out there," Rolycoly added while he rested a hand on the goblin's shoulder, "She was incredible."

Morgrem grinned with pride and replied, "Well, I wouldn't say incredible, but yeah, I've realized I don't need my old hair blade to be awesome." Machoke and the others stared at her before the goblin explained, "Oh yeah, I used to have really long hair that I could use as a blade. Some villain cut it off three years ago."

"Wow, it's just like what happened to Lucario's spike," Machoke uttered before Vaporeon uttered, "Oh yeah, I read about that. It's because of that he can't use his London Bridge technique anymore, right?"

Machoke shrugged and replied, "Even if he could, he prefers not to anymore ever since I defeated it in the Olympic finals," Gardevoir nodding and adding, "Besides, he's happier without it. He says it makes hugging his family easier. That's so cute."

Zeraora simply gulped down his own drink before Vaporeon asked, "Hey, you okay? You haven't said anything since we arrived," the cat uttering, "Oh, uh, right."

"Speaking of which, we haven't really had a chance to talk, have we?" Scorbunny enquired, "So, um, Zeraora, Vaporeon tells us you live by yourself. Is that right?"

The cat blinked and replied, "Yeah. My parents work in a different city and send me money so I can afford to pay for food and other such things," not sure what else to say. Deep down, he felt like that was the only interesting thing about himself.

Vaporeon chuckled nervously and whispered, "He's never had friends before, so he's pretty shy." Thus the others nodded in understanding before Gardevoir smiled and took Zeraora's hand.

The cat blinked as she squeaked, "Hey, how about we try out the karaoke machine?" Zeraora tensing up and whimpering, "But I'm not really a good singer."

"It's okay," Machoke replied with a grin, "It's just a fun activity," the white woman leading him toward the machine and flipping through the songs. She thought hard about a good one, and while Zeraora felt like it would not matter, he noticed one particular title on the list that caught his eye. Thus he pressed the button to select it without even thinking.

Gardevoir beamed and squealed, "Good choice!" only for the cat to tense up. But just as he was about to back out, Vaporeon simply smiled at him with confidence, thus he took a deep breath and thought, 'I beat up a hero today. I can handle this.'

The song began as he and Gardevoir sang together. While Gardevoir had the best singing voice of everyone in the group, Zeraora seemed to come pretty close to her level. As such, the others watched with big smiles on their faces. And by the time the song was over, the cat's cheeks turned bright pink when everyone gave him a round of applause.

He turned toward the group and uttered, "You're all just being nice," only for Morgrem to shake her head and remark, "Oh no. You're way better than me," Rolycoly chuckling, "Me too."

Blaziken nodded with a grin and added, "Seriously, you got some fine chops," the others expressing their own agreement. Zeraora took many deep breaths and smiled lightly while even the many human customers gave him their own words of encouragement.

It was at this exact moment that Zeraora truly realized just how grateful he was to have met Vaporeon. If she had never entered his life, something like this would not have happened. As such, he smiled at her and made a solemn vow in his mind that he would do all he could to win the tournament and not let her down.

After another couple of hours, the group was ready to head off. Machoke and Gardevoir were headed home as they waved goodbye to Aipom. The monkey grinned and squealed, "We should meet up again later! I forgot how fun this place was!"

"Seriously," Rillaboom replied, "It's so simple yet it's so inviting. I think I might have said that already," Zeraora nodding and saying, "You can say that again."

Vaporeon gave each of her friends a hug and said, "See you all later," before Drizzile replied, "Yeah. You sure you don't want us to help you and Zeraora train for the next round?"

The fox nodded and replied, "Trust me. I'm fine. I got my partner here." But while she seemed confident, Zeraora was not so sure. A part of him wanted to ask the others for help, but he also had to remind himself that they were technically his competition as well. If anything, it would feel weird to train with them only to face them in a later round.

With that in mind, he nodded his head and walked away from the area with Vaporeon by his side. He was certain of it. After tonight, there was no way he could feel nervous around big groups of people again. After all, he was a fighter now. He could handle this.

When Scorbunny and Blaziken arrived at the hotel they were staying at, the rabbit's eyes widened when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to notice a certain grey rabbit behind her. As such, she smiled lightly and uttered, "Oh, hi, Raboot. Are you also staying at this hotel?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," he replied with his hands by his side, "Ninetales is thinking of heading back to Korea tomorrow, but I think I might just stick around," as Scorbunny smiled and said, "Well, that sounds nice. You gonna cheer us on?"

"Hell yeah I am," Raboot stated with a big smile. He then turned toward Blaziken and enquired, "Hey, um, could you maybe leave us alone for a while? I have something I need to discuss privately with your partner here."

The chicken blinked and nodded in understanding. While this felt a tad suspicious at first, she could tell that the male rabbit could be trusted, and thus she headed inside and told Scorbunny she would be in their room. The female rabbit nodded and turned back to Raboot.

"So, what is it you'd like to talk about?" she enquired, Raboot gazing deep into her eyes, resting his hands on her shoulders and saying, "I know you're hiding something, and I know what that something is."

"Uh, what?" Scorbunny uttered before he chuckled and quipped, "Don't play dumb with me. I could feel it from the moment I laid eyes on you. Yep, there is absolutely no denying it."

The female rabbit could tell just from the wording and the look in his eyes that he really had figured it out. By all accounts, this made no sense, but it was plain as day. As such, she braced herself only for the male rabbit to nod and state, "Yep, you're a distant relative of mine, aren't you?"

Scorbunny slowly opened her eyes and stared blankly at the male rabbit who had his hands up against his hips and a proud smile on his face. While he was not entirely off the mark, this was still a relief. As such, she took a deep breath and chuckled, "Yeah, you got me. I guess I couldn't pull the wool over your eyes."

"Damn straight," Raboot laughed, "Though if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you say anything before we fought?" Scorbunny uttering, "Well, I was afraid if I did, you might go easy on me since, you know, we're family and all that."

Raboot stared at Scorbunny briefly before a big smile formed on his face. Thus he slapped his knee and laughed, "What are the odds!? That's exactly why I didn't say anything! God, you are so cool!"

The female rabbit blushed lightly and chuckled, "Well, thank you," before enquiring, "Would you like to come into our room for a while?" the male rabbit shrugging and replying, "Eh, why not?"

And so, both rabbits entered the hotel together, Scorbunny having so much trouble believing this. She was about to spend quality time with her great grandfather. To think she would actually have a chance to do this in her life time.

After Machoke and Gardevoir returned home, the reptilian took a deep breath and said, "Hey, I was thinking maybe after a bit of training, we could go and check up on Hawlucha and Diancie in the hospital," the white woman replying, "Of course. I feel a little bad that we didn't do that today. If only we'd been allowed to see their fight, then we could have cheered them on."

"Yeah," Machoke sighed, "Those two advisers must be tough. I'm sure they didn't mean to be that rough, but still, it's kinda scary to think we might have to face them at some point."

After a few seconds, he chuckled, "You know, honey, this really takes me back. As painful as it was to see our friends wind up in this kind of condition, this is what it was always like back then."

Gardevoir nodded and giggled, "You're right. Even though it's a competition between heroes, this sort of thing has always been put on the same level as good and evil struggles. Even though no one's allowed to die, these matches can be just as brutal."

"Yeah, I kinda hated it the first time I had to deal with it," Machoke sighed, "I still remember back when Hero Planet's government tried to have us replaced and forced us into that tournament with those new graduates and it was up to me to win the whole thing. At the time, that was the most frightening thing I'd ever had to deal with, and that was a competition between heroes."

"Well, they did threaten to separate us," Gardevoir whimpered, "I still think about what life would have been like if we lost and had been sent to different parts of the world."

Machoke nodded and sighed, "Yeah, and even though there were less stakes, every other tournament has been much more stressful than it should be. Yet, it always feels so satisfying to partake in them," before groaning, "You know, that hedgehog with the others, she was raving about Dialga and Palkia being villains. You think she might have been right about that?"

Gardevoir took a deep breath and replied, "I've been thinking about that, and that wouldn't surprise me. Every tournament has had at least one villain partake in it while posing as a hero. I'm just hoping they're not."

Both would certainly need to look into this, though. After all, Melmetal was not the only villain who had ever snuck into a tournament for heroes. Both Talonflame and Ninetales used to serve the side of evil before Machoke defeated them. It was certainly not out of the question for something like this to happen again.

During this time, Dialga sat in front of a computer given to him by Hero Planet's government. After all, since he and Palkia had been hired as advisers, it only made sense to give them access to any information that could help them.

"You know, even though it was under strict rules, that felt really satisfying," Palkia said with a grin, "They put up a better fight than Shaymin, but we still beat them easily."

"Indeed," the blue dragon replied before closing up his laptop, "I swear, we don't even need to train for any of these matches. According to the official Hero Planet website, there is no one who can oppose us in this time line. The current world champions are a mere fighting type and a psychic fairy. We made the right choice."

"Wait, that's what you were looking up?" Palkia uttered, "I thought you already looked that up shortly after we came to this time," the blue dragon replying, "Yeah, I did, but I felt like I had to double check. We can't be too careful."

The purple dragon nodded and folded her arms behind her head. She then narrowed her eyelids and enquired, "But just to be certain, are you sure we shouldn't worry a little bit about that Mach guy and that Garden something?"

"I'll admit, that is a good question," Dialga replied, "From what I've seen, these two have pulled off some impressive feats. However, nothing I've seen would suggest that these two really are as amazing as their reputation suggests. Machoke, for instance, defeated a mighty demon named Giratina roughly five years ago, but only because his strength had lowered significantly due to him having been out of practice for ages before that point. And while this Hoopa he defeated in the last Ultimate World Team Tournament sounds like a major threat, he and Gardevoir only came out on top because his partner turned against him in the middle of their match."

"Wow, so they're not even really that impressive," Palkia remarked, "They're just super lucky," Dialga chuckling, "That's right. On top of that, Hoopa's partner was that elf girl we beat earlier today. Even if we have to fight those two at some point, it won't make a difference."

This certainly put Palkia at ease, thus she decided to doze off for a little nap. But while Dialga had said they would not need to put in any real effort, there was no way he would allow himself and his partner to just sit around and do nothing to prepare for each round. After all, they could not be too careful.

The following day, everyone trained long and hard. Gallade and Drizzile worked hard at a gym that the green man and Gardevoir used to use together back in the day while she and Machoke used a facility they had set up in their basement.

Rillaboom worked on her moves while she helped Aipom build up her physical strength. After all, both knew full well that was the monkey's biggest weakness, and if they could prevent her from being knocked out again, things would certainly be a lot easier.

Morgrem and Rolycoly went to a forest this time. Morgrem used this chance to not only work on her new signature moves but also come up with new ones. After all, they would have a much bigger crowd soon, thus they would need to put in far more effort than before.

Meanwhile, Zeraora worked hard to improve himself. Since Vaporeon had been unconscious when he knocked out Golduck, she could not exactly describe the moves he had used to him. And of course, none of her friends had seen the match either, so it was not as if he could ask any of them to relay such information.

But despite all of that, he was determined to help out a lot more than he had today. After all, Vaporeon had almost lost because of his lack of confidence. He would make sure that would not happen again.

Of course, the two who did their absolute best during this time were Melmetal and Shaymin. This was their big chance to stop Dialga and Palkia and there was no way they would hold back. In fact, the hedgehog even had a special plan just in case their skills were not good enough.

After a ton of training, Machoke and Gardevoir went to check up on Hawlucha and Diancie in the hospital. It was still hard to believe that of all the friends who had lost, these two were the only ones to be hospitalized. Even Mawile and Octillery had not taken in this much pain.

And while Gallade would have gladly joined them, he was much more focused on Hitmonchan right now. While she was still unconscious, the doctors confirmed that she would be awake within the next week or so. All Gallade could hope was that he and Drizzile would keep winning so that she would be awake to see at least one of their matches.

After they were done at the hospital, they along with their new friends all got together for the celebratory dinner they had planned earlier. While there was a lot on their plate, they figured something like this could help to relieve the stress of the situation. But of course, all of them would continue to train extra hard tomorrow.

Once all three days had passed, many were gathered at Nissan Stadium. They simply could not wait for the first round to officially start. While the matches each portion of the crowd had seen were exciting, they could only imagine how much better these ones would be. On top of that, everyone would get to see a variety of heroes whose skills they were yet to witness.

Sure enough, the bleachers were filled and all of the contestants not competing in the first match had been given front row seats. Beedrill, Butterfree and Nori all sat behind a desk as the wasp exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are gathered here today as Nissan Stadium to witness the official first round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament!"

The crowd cheered before Butterfree explained, "Now, here's how it's gonna work for those who didn't see the last one. After each match ends, the next teams to fight will have ten minutes to prepare their entrances. The only exceptions will be after the third and sixth matches, in which we will take an hour-long break before the forth and seventh matches can begin."

"One last thing worth note is that the rules will be a little different as well," Nori stated, "Before, we actually had a rule where the first five minutes would follow traditional tag team rules. Then if the match was still going, it would change to tornado tag. However, since the audience loved the tornado portions, we decided to have the matches work like that from start to finish."

Machoke nodded and said, "So I guess there's no possibility of simply taking out one target and winning that way," before Blaziken shrugged and replied, "It's not like that made much of a difference before, anyway."

Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "This should be interesting," Raboot nodding while he sat behind her and replied, "Yeah. The old rules were fine, but this should be much more fun."

The young rabbit turned and uttered, "How long have you been there?" the male rabbit chuckling, "Wow, I really am light on my feet."

Meanwhile, Zeraora and Vaporeon were both in a training area as they got in a little bit of last-minute practice. The cat sent a barrage of punches into a bag with a smile on his face. He then turned to the fox and sighed, "It's amazing, but I actually feel like I might be ready for this."

Vaporeon nodded with a sweet smile and replied, "Yeah, I can see that. And don't let the large crowd intimidate you, alright? Just think, those bullies who used to pick on you might be watching. This is your chance to give them even more of a reason to fear you."

Zeraora nodded with a smirk and replied, "You're right. Once this is over, no one will ever underestimate me again." But just as he was about to thank Vaporeon, he stopped himself and simply smiled at her. After all, it was like he said. He had already thanked her hundreds of times.

"And so, without further ado, let's introduce our first two teams to compete!" Beedrill exclaimed, "In the red corner are two newcomers to the hero racket! One is a spirited young fox who may be similar to Leafeon and Jolteon's family but claims to have no connection to them! The other is a feisty feline who apparently really impressed those who saw him in combat three days ago! Give it up for the Atlantic Catfish!"

Zeraora tensed up, turned to Vaporeon and uttered, "That's the team name you thought up for us?" the fox shrugging and remarking, "What's wrong with it?" the cat letting out a sigh. After all, now was not the time to argue.

With that, the cat leapt up onto Vaporeon's shoulders before she leapt into the air and leaned forward. Surprisingly enough, Zeraora was able to work with her perfectly as the two performed a somersault toward the ring. They then propelled themselves high into the air before Vaporeon landed perfectly on her tail with her arms spread out.

The crowd cheered wildly while Machoke grinned and exclaimed, "THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL!" giving them a round of applause before Gardevoir chuckled, "For such a lack of resources, that was a really good entrance."

Gallade nodded and uttered, "Oh yeah, you did say Vaporeon's father worked at a circus in his teen years, right?" turning to Drizzile who nodded and replied, "It really shows, doesn't it?"

The others were of course equally impressed as Palkia gasped, "Dialga, we have to put on an entrance like that!" the blue dragon sighing, "It seems pointless, but I am quite intrigued."

Zeraora blushed bright and uttered, "Wow, they really loved that," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "Yep. Now you just gotta make sure you fight on that same level."

Once the crowd settled down a bit, Butterfree stated, "And in the blue corner, one is a mighty bug from Hungary and the other is a powerful boulder who's much stronger than his size suggests! Both form a very strong team! Give it up for the Steamrollers!"

Everyone watched while Scolipede rolled toward the ring with Geodude using his hands like feet to run in place on top of her. Once they were close enough, the rock propelled himself off of the centipede's back and landed against the ring. Scolipede then bounced high into the air and landed as well, the crowd cheering heavily for them.

Vaporeon looked at them with ferocity in her eyes while Zeraora took a deep breath and struck a fighting pose. There was no way he would hold back, not this time.


	14. Chapter 14

This was it. This was the day Zeraora would fight well against a fellow hero. Sure, he may have defeated Golduck, but he was still unsure just how he had pulled it off. And while he still could not remember a single signature move, he at least knew enough standard moves to be of use.

But of course, Scolipede and Geodude would not be easy opponents. While the rock was short, he was known for his incredible physical strength. Meanwhile, the centipede was almost twice as tall as Vaporeon and Zeraora.

Either way, the fox turned toward the cat and smiled with a nod before he forced a grin of his own. And with that in mind, Beedrill nodded and turned to Nori who smiled and exclaimed, "Well, folks, the combatants are set! Let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Vaporeon nodded at Zeraora who took a deep breath and leapt up into the air. Afterwards, the fox jumped up to his height and flipped vertically. She pushed him forward with her tail before he aimed his feet toward Scolipede, planting them hard into her face.

The crowd went wild as Scorbunny beamed and squealed, "That was a good start!" Rillaboom nodding and replying, "I have to admit, that was definitely a really good strategy."

However, everyone's enthusiasm died down when Scolipede implied a smirk with her eyes and asked, "Is that it?" Zeraora tensed up before she sent her antennae forward and planted them into his shoulders while green acid covered them. She then leaned backwards and shouted, "VENOSHOCK SUPLEX!" ramming his back into the canvas.

Vaporeon gasped and leapt toward the centipede with the tip of her tail covered in ice. She then swung it around only for Geodude to float in front of her and grab the part in question with a smirk. He lifted her up and threw her downward, planting her upper back into the canvas as she cried out in pain.

The crowd cheered as Palkia turned to Dialga and said, "Looks like we got nothing to worry about. If this is the best those heroes who came with Shaymin are capable of, we're on easy street."

Dialga nodded and replied, "Indeed. Maybe we should have just declared war on all heroes instead of setting up a tournament. Oh well, this is still entertaining."

Geodude proceeded to lift Vaporeon up again before he threw his arms downward and slammed her into the mat a second time. When Zeraora saw this, he gasped and gritted his teeth. He then tried his hardest to ignore the pain to his shoulders and sent his feet inward, ramming them into the antennae.

Scolipede's eyes widened before she removed the parts from his shoulders. And when she bolted upright, the cat leapt into the air and thought, 'If that kick didn't hurt her, this certainly will!' taking hold of her cheeks and planting his claws into them.

While the claws certainly added a bit of pain, Scolipede still ignored it as she implied a smirk and said, "You definitely have skill, but as you can see, much like my buddy, Geodude, my body is far too tough for it to matter."

At that moment, all of Zeraora's confidence left him, thus he allowed her to swing her head downward and cause him to fly off of her. When Geodude turned back slightly and noticed this, he swung an already dazed Vaporeon toward the flying feline and caused both to collide with one-another. Needless to say, their friends were beyond concerned when the Atlantic Catfish gasped in pain and fell against the canvas.

"You know, I never did like that Geodude," Machoke uttered, "But Scolipede's just as bad," Drizzile grunting, "Don't count Vaporeon out yet. She's dealt with worse."

While this was certainly true, Vaporeon had lost to almost every major opponent she had ever faced. To this day, her victory over Corviknight was the only one worth mention. Every other victory she had ever obtained was against someone who hardly provided a challenge at all.

But even with that in mind, the fox still pushed herself up before taking hold of Zeraora's shoulders and helping him back to his feet. But when she noticed the look of horror in his eyes, she shook him by the parts she had grabbed and grunted, "Don't lose faith now! They may be tough, but we can do this!"

The cat breathed heavily before he released one last breath and uttered, "Right, of course. I mean, I did beat Golduck, and she's a legend. I've never even heard of this Scolipede before."

The centipede felt slightly offended when she heard that but tried her best to ignore it while Beedrill stated, "Things started off promising for the Atlantic Catfish, but we're only a few minutes in and they've already taken in a lot of pain. Let's see if they can make up for that."

Vaporeon could see all of her friends looking at her with concern. As such, she took a deep breath and thought, 'It's a good thing Zeraora's back in the game. I just hope I'm right and that he really is good enough to make up for this.'

With that in mind, she watched as Scolipede said, "Good, you're done your little pep talk. I was starting to grow impatient," Geodude folding his arms and grunting, "You'd better be grateful. I convinced her not to take advantage of your conversation."

"Oh, wow, thanks," Vaporeon replied with a bow of her head, "It's too bad we have to beat the shit out of you," the rock smirking and readying himself for whatever they had in store.

With all said and done, the fox took a deep breath and turned to Zeraora, whispering, "Launch me into the air. I think my ice might be able to do some real damage. If we can break open Scolipede's flesh, it might give us a weak spot to exploit."

Zeraora nodded before he held out his paws just like Vaporeon did. She then leapt atop them before he threw his arms upward. However, it seemed as if he did not have the same grace she did, thus she wound up flipping forward vertically and falling on her face.

This gave Geodude just the opportunity he needed to drift over her and drop on her back. The fox cried out in agony and coughed up blood while Zeraora gasped and clasped his paws over his mouth.

'Oh my god,' he thought while Geodude remained on Vaporeon's back, took hold of her chin and pulled up on it, shouting, "BOULDER CLUTCH!"

Zeraora continued to tremble, and this distraction was all Scolipede needed as she went down on her four legs and eight arms. She then raced toward Zeraora and rammed her skull into him from the side. This caused him to spin back and land on his front side.

With that, Scolipede mounted her upper body over his back and wrapped all of her arms around him, pulling up and barking, "CENTIPEDE BACKBREAKER!"

The crowd cheered more while Scorbunny squeaked, "VAPOREON, NO!" Blaziken uttering, "What the hell was that? You all saw that, right?"

Aipom nodded with her arms folded and sighed, "It's like those two have no chemistry. Now I'm wondering how they beat Barbaracle and Golduck. Surely they must have practised that move in advance."

While Zeraora's back was certainly in pain, he was much more focused on the amount of shame that he felt. Aipom was right. Had he not screwed up Vaporeon's plan like that, they would not have been in this mess. Once again, he felt like he had let the fox down.

With that in mind, he gritted his teeth and growled while his whiskers turned bright yellow. Sparks then travelled into his tail before he roared, "LIGHTNING SLASH!" and shifted it upward into Scolipede's gut. He ran it right along the centipede before green blood dripped from her, thus she cried out in pain and released her hold on the cat.

The crowd stared in shocked while Zeraora panted heavily with a look of fury in his eyes, a blue glow around his tail. Geodude saw this and gasped, "Scolipede!" the cat leaping toward him with his paws balled up into fists and cupped together. And once close enough, he sent them both down into the rock's skull. This caused just enough pain for him to wince and release his hold.

Vaporeon gasped with a big smile and wrapped her tail around Geodude. She then flung him back-first into the turnbuckle while the crowd cheered wildly, the fox rising to her feet and breathing heavily.

Morgrem grinned and squealed, "Yeah, that was awesome!" as Rolycoly sighed with relief while Raboot uttered, "Damn, that was a pretty good comeback."

Rillaboom grinned and stated, "That's more like it. I figured there was no way Vaporeon would go down that easily, even with two opponents at once."

"Wow, that was incredible," Vaporeon said with a big smile before Zeraora calmed down and uttered, "What did I-?"

He then turned backward to see the sparks that surrounded his tail. A big smile formed on his face as he exclaimed, "Look at that! I'm using electricity! I'm actually using it!"

Scolipede finally ignored the pain on her upper body and breathed heavily. While the slash had not put a necessarily deep cut on her, it had left a long line on her. And there was no way she would let that happen again.

Thus she narrowed her eyelids and grunted, "Well, it seems you have some skills after all. But can you keep that up?" Zeraora noticing that his tail still had sparks around it.

With that in mind, he put on a serious look and grunted, "Vaporeon, I have a plan. I'm not sure if it'll work, but if it does, we could add another weak spot to Scolipede," Vaporeon biting her lower lip. A part of her had wanted to keep coming up with good strategies, but she needed this, and Zeraora was actually confident for a change.

She then noticed Geodude push himself away from the turnbuckle and shake the pain off of himself before she took a deep breath and said, "Alright, let's do it," Zeraora whispering what he had in mind to her before Scolipede growled, "You know what!? As much as I respect Geodude's sense of sportsmanship, I'm taking advantage of this!"

With that in mind, she lunged at the duo only for Vaporeon to slide her tail under Zeraora. She then used it to launch him into the air before he spun vertically toward Scolipede and barked, "LIGHTNING SLASH!" this time putting a small cut on her forehead.

More green blood squirted out before she winced in pain, Geodude gasping and floating toward the cat. But just as he was about to grab him, Vaporeon curled her tail into a spring and bounced high into the air. Sure enough, she managed to reach the rock just in time to latch onto his shoulders and lean backward, shouting, "TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!"

The crowd cheered louder when Geodude's skull hit the canvas hard. His eyes widened and twitched while he gritted his teeth, Scorbunny giving a round of applause while the others stared in awe.

"You guys were right," Gallade uttered, "She's just like us, pulling off miracles when it really counts," Machoke turning to Scorbunny, Rillaboom and Drizzile and uttering, "Are you guys also like that?"

All three of them shrugged before Morgrem and Rolycoly chuckled nervously. After all, while they had not won a whole lot of matches in their career, their victories had been very similar.

Vaporeon released her hold on Geodude with a look of pride before Zeraora leapt away from Scolipede and landed beside the fox. He could feel his adrenaline pumping and his spirits high. And the best part of all was that this time, he knew full well what he was doing.

Vaporeon looked at the cut on Scolipede's forehead and smirked before she asked, "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Zeraora nodding before he and the fox leapt toward the centipede. Vaporeon proceeded to cover the tip of her tail in an ice ball once again and spun vertically, she and Zeraora shouting, "FROZEN THUNDER BALL!"

But just as the move was about to land, Zeraora's eyes widened when his electricity suddenly faded from his tail. While Vaporeon's ice dealt a decent amount of damage, Scolipede was able to ignore it due to the fact that Zeraora's had done next to nothing.

As such, she once again covered her antennae in acid and jabbed them into her opponents' bellies. Both coughed up blood before she swung her head downward. Geodude recovered just in time to see this, thus he leapt up toward Vaporeon and Zeraora and rested his arms up against their neck. Thus when they hit the canvas, they took in even more pain and coughed up blood, Geodude and Scolipede exclaiming, "VENOSHOCK CHOKESLAM!"

Vaporeon's friends all stared in horror while she and Zeraora lay there with their bodies twitching. Geodude looked down at them, grinned at Scolipede and gave her a thumb up. Thus the Steamrollers backed away from their downed opponents and rose their arms in the air while Nori started a ten count, Butterfree stating, "It seems as if the Atlantic Catfish's advantage has left them! For whatever reason, Zeraora's electricity has up and vanished, thus the Steamrollers are able to knock them down!"

While Zeraora still had enough strength to move, he was spellbound. Out of all the times for this to happen, why now? Why when he finally felt truly worthy of being Vaporeon's partner?

Thankfully, since Vaporeon's body was scaly, she could also move, thus she pushed herself up while flipping backwards. She then looked down at her partner and gasped, "Hey, are you okay!?"

The cat continued to lie there for a few seconds before his eyes widened and he bolted upright. Even so, he continued to sit there while he uttered, "I'm so sorry, Vaporeon. I'm not sure if we can get the upper hand back."

"What do you mean?" Vaporeon enquired, "We were doing awesome before," Zeraora sighing, "Only because my electric powers actually worked. But there's a problem. I don't know how I used it. It's like everything I did three days ago. I have no clue what I did."

The fox looked at Scolipede and squinted her eyes while the cat uttered, "Are you hearing me right now?" only for Vaporeon to hold her hand up to his mouth and gasp, "Look!"

When the cat turned, Scolipede had a look of confusion as he and Vaporeon stared at the scar on her head. While their last move may not have dealt the damage they had hoped, it had increased the size of the wound. With that in mind, Vaporeon smiled and said, "We'll work on your electric powers later, but I don't think we'll need them to end this match."

"Is that so?" Scolipede retorted before she dove toward the Atlantic Catfish, "You sound awfully confident about that!" Geodude racing toward Zeraora with his fist at the ready. Fortunately, though, the cat and his partner were ready, thus when Scolipede closed in, both spun around. Vaporeon slammed her tail into the centipede's skull while Zeraora delivered a roundhouse.

More green blood squirted out while Scolipede's eye twitched, Geodude ready to strike only for Zeraora to fold his arms defensively and block an onslaught of punches from him. His eyes widened when his whiskers lit up and two spheres of electricity covered his fists.

The crowd watched in amazement when the cat smirked and unleashed an onslaught of rapid punches toward Geodude, shouting, "PLASMA FISTS!" While the rock managed to block them at first, it was not long until he felt his arms start to weaken. Thus he lowered his guard just long enough to receive a fierce punch to his forehead, a small burn mark forming on that very spot.

Zeraora continued to send more and more strikes to Geodude as Scolipede growled, "Oh no you don't!" She tucked herself into a ball and rolled toward him while green buzz saws made of energy formed on her shoulders and she spat, "CENTIPEDE STEAMROLLER!"

Vaporeon would not allow Zeraora to lose the upper hand, not again. As such, she frowned and dashed in front of the centipede. She glared and watched her movements while she thought, 'It's just like when Scorbunny defeated Melmetal's Jack Marble technique. I just have to watch really closely and strike when the time is right.'

Melmetal himself knew this full well, thus he watched from the crowd and hoped she could pull this off. And sure enough, Vaporeon just happened to spot the pattern right on time before she covered the tip of her tail in ice. She then spun her body around and shouted, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!" swinging the sphere toward Scolipede.

Vaporeon closed her eyes tight while the crowd stared in stunned silence. When she noticed she had not been struck and felt that her ice had indeed hit something soft, she opened her eyes and slowly turned toward the centipede. Sure enough, the scar on her skull had split open and a great deal of green blood trickled down from that exact spot.

As if that was not enough, Zeraora held his arms back before he sent both fists forward into Geodude's forehead. This sent him flying backward into the turnbuckle, and when he collided with it, he cried out in pain, closed his eyes and passed out.

When Scolipede retracted from her ball-like state and spread her arms and legs out, Nori blinked while Beedrill stated, "Wow, just as it seemed like their advantage had left them, the Atlantic Catfish get it back! Zeraora delivers an amazing onslaught while his partner strikes Scolipede in the forehead! But will this be enough to take these two powerhouses out for good!?"

Scorbunny bit her lower lip in anticipation while the others were just as invested. And once Butterfree reached ten seconds, Nori nodded and rang the bell, exclaiming, "After a very intense first match, the Atlantic Catfish have won and will advance to round two!"

The area erupted with heavy cheers and applause as Zeraora's electricity faded. He then looked at his paws then at Geodude's unconscious body and thought, 'Oh my god. I did it. I really did it. And I actually kinda knew what I was doing that time.'

The others all rose their arms in the air, Rillaboom shouting, "Way to go, guys!" Aipom nodding and saying, "Well, they still have a way to go, but that was a great comeback," Machoke sighing, "Come on, you're not even a trainer anymore. You don't have to talk like one."

Scorbunny's eyes sparkled until Raboot nodded and said, "That Vaporeon's pretty impressive. Of course, she doesn't hold a candle to us, but still," the female rabbit lowering her eyelids and thinking, 'Yep, exactly how Grandma described him.'

Blaziken seemed to agree though as she said, "Hey, if we win our next match, we'll get to fight them. That's pretty exciting, isn't it?" Scorbunny's eyes wide with shock. In all the excitement, she had just about forgotten that her match was next.

Drizzile nodded with his arms folded and stated, "I can see why Vaporeon chose Zeraora as her partner. He's kinda like me and Rillaboom when we were just starting but he definitely shows a lot of promise," Gallade shrugging and replying, "Yeah, but we could beat them if we face them later, right?"

The chameleon had to admit, much like Scorbunny, he had not really thought about that yet. If he and Gallade won the first two rounds, they could potentially wind up facing either Vaporeon or the female rabbit in the semi-finals. Whatever the case, Drizzile would certainly like a less stressful match for a change.

Rolycoly took a deep breath and said, "I was really on the edge of my seat there, but then again, when am I not when watching our friends fight?" Morgrem shrugging and replying, "Same here, but was there any real doubt they'd win?"

Scolipede and Geodude were both loaded up onto stretchers before Beedrill stated, "And with the first match out of the way, we have ten minutes for the next one to begin. Therefor, I request that the Atlantic Catfish step out of the ring as soon as they can."

Vaporeon nodded and held up her fist, Zeraora staring at it for a few seconds. A smile then formed on his face before he lifted up his own fist and planted it up against hers. He could not have felt more satisfied.

While he and the fox returned to the crowd, the cat looked around and noticed the bullies who used to pick on him were not in the bleachers. But right now, he was just so happy to have earned his victory that he did not even care whether or not they had seen him win on TV. He had just proven himself a worthy fighter in front of all of these people and that was good enough for him.

Dialga watched this and said, "I can see why that mermaid cat thing doesn't have much of a reputation back in her time," Palkia remarking, "What do you mean? She won, didn't she?"

"Yes," the blue dragon replied, "But it wasn't a very impressive victory. If anything, I feel like that floating rock and the bug would have been a much bigger challenge if we faced them later. Still, though, there are others who came with her. Let's see if they're at least worth worrying about."

While he still felt confident that he and Palkia could win this tournament with ease, it still did not hurt to be cautious. As such, he would focus as hard as possible on every single match.

Blaziken and Scorbunny headed to the back to prepare themselves after Vaporeon and Zeraora headed to the bleachers. Thankfully, the cat was used to the fox's friends by now, so he did not feel particularly nervous when he sat near them. Now all that mattered was that he cheer for Vaporeon's friend.

But would this turn out like Blaziken figured? Would Vaporeon and Scorbunny fight in the second round?


	15. Chapter 15

The crowd was truly excited as Blaziken was ten minutes away from gracing them with her presence. Despite her rather mixed track record, she was still massively popular among the citizens of Tokyo. On top of that, those who saw Scorbunny fight alongside her had told many of their friends just how much chemistry she had with the chicken.

Both heroes were currently preparing themselves in a training facility while Scorbunny stated, "Anyway, I hope you don't mind, but I kinda had a sports theme in mind for our entrance. I'm not even really involved in sports, yet I like to base my entrances off of athletic activities."

"Okay," Blaziken replied with a nod, "That sounds interesting. I was just gonna march toward the ring showing peace signs, anyway. So, what sport were you thinking of?"

Scorbunny grinned and squealed, "Football!" the chicken's eyes sparkling as she exclaimed, "Oh my god, it's like we're in sync! That's exactly what I had in mind the minute you suggested sports!"

A big open-mouth smile formed on Scorbunny's face. As if the fact that she could fight alongside her idol was not enough, it felt as if the two had already become best friends. And while it made her a little sad that she would eventually have to leave this time line to return to her own, this moment made her so happy that she hardly cared.

All the while, everyone congratulated Zeraora on his efforts. The cat felt nervous, especially since he still had not entirely figured out how his electricity worked, but this still felt incredible. Never in his life did he ever think he would do something worthy of this much praise.

Drizzile smiled and said, "Seriously, I'd love to face you in the semis," Zeraora chuckling, "Well, if we make it that far, it would be a pleasure," sighing, "Now I really hope Scorbunny wins. At least then, I'd feel less pressure."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Same here," though she had a slightly different reason. Ever since the rabbit moved into her home, the two of them had grown an incredible bond. Along with sharing the same bed, Vaporeon had taught Scorbunny how to cook. All the while, the rabbit had not once felt the least bit spiteful over the fact that she was the first fighter to ever lose to the fox. Of course, the two got along great in many different areas as well, so much so that Scorbunny had immediately thought to have Vaporeon as her partner and only teamed up with Blaziken after being given permission to do so.

But even with that in mind, the fox felt as if her victory over Scorbunny back in the day had been a fluke. As such, she wanted a chance to face the rabbit in a true rematch to see if she really had earned that victory or not.

All the while, the rabbit and chicken's opponents, Alcremie and Stonjourner were getting ready in their own way. The cream girl grinned and said, "This is gonna be awesome. We'll get to defeat one of Tokyo's own heroes in front of all these people."

"Are you sure we can do it?" Stonjourner whimpered, "You've heard how she beat Onix, right? Do you know how tall he is?"

Alcremie turned to him with concern and patted him on the leg. She then smiled up at him and cooed, "Come on, you're better than that Onix guy ever was. Who's my big brave partner?"

"I am?" Stonjourner uttered before Alcremie nodded and squealed, "Very good! Now you're ready!"

Soon enough, all ten minutes had passed, thus Beedrill exclaimed, "Alright, folks, that was a great first match, but now it's time for the second one to begin! In the red corner are two mighty warriors! While they may not look like a good match, it's best not to let that deceive you! One looks delicious but is actually quite nasty in the ring while the other is a gentle soul outside of combat but quite deadly if you look at him the wrong way! Presenting the Rocking Candies!"

The crowd watched in amazement when a giant cake was wheeled into the ring on a float shaped like a serving tray. Machoke drooled and uttered, "I know I shouldn't, but I kinda wanna dive into that," Gallade sighing, "It's obviously fake."

Sure enough, the top opened up while a dramatic score played in the background. Alcremie rose up on a platform with her hands cupped together and Stonjourner by her side dressed like a sumo wrestler. The cream girl then cleared her throat and sang, "To all of you beautiful people, gaze upon us on this day!" Stonjourner adding, "Because we are going to dominate!"

The music came to a halt as Machoke lowered his eyelids and uttered, "Wait, that was it?" Gardevoir equally disappointed while Shaymin groaned, "I was hoping for a full musical number! Why would you waste such a beautiful setup for that!?"

Melmetal shrugged and replied, "Well, the crowd seems to like it." And sure enough, the vast majority of people watching gave a round of applause, Morgrem blinking and uttering, "I just got the greatest idea ever."

Rolycoly turned to her before she enquired, "We got an hour before our match. Can you paint us something amazing in preparation for it?" the short golem nodding and replying, "I think I can."

Once the crowd was settled and Alcremie and Stonjourner were in the ring with the tall golem's costume removed, Butterfree stated, "And in the blue corner, one is the mighty Texas Phoenix! She has defeated quite a number of opponents over the past, and while you could argue she's actually lost to as many villains as she's defeated, she still has incredible spirit! Her partner is a newcomer who many have said has perfect chemistry with her! Presenting the Flying Phoenixes!"

The crowd waited in anticipation while Scorbunny stood by the entrance with a Soccer uniform on, Blaziken sporting one of her own and sighing, "Why didn't it occur to me this is the Football you were referring to?"

Either way, the jersey certainly suited her a lot more than an American Football one would have, thus she was fine with this. With that in mind, she and Scorbunny raced toward the ring while the rabbit kicked a soccer ball made of iron. Both heroes traded it back and forth before Scorbunny lifted it up with her foot and sent it into the air.

Blaziken smirked and leapt up to its level, flipped three hundred and sixty degrees and sent a hard kick into it. This caused it to fly into the middle of the ring, but the chicken made sure not to break the surface before the match began. She and Scorbunny then leapt into the air, landed against the ring and rose their arms up high, the crowd truly ecstatic.

"OH MY GOD, THAT WAS AMAZING!" Gardevoir squealed while she clapped rapidly, "You look so good in that jersey, Blaziken!" the chicken looking up at her with a sweet smile. She then grinned at Scorbunny and gave her a thumb up, the rabbit's cheeks flushed pink.

Machoke grinned and said, "She almost looks as good as you with one of those on, eh, honey?" turning to Gardevoir who giggled, "Yeah, she really does," Gallade uttering, "Maybe I should start wearing a jersey."

"Good show!" Raboot shouted while he gave a standing ovation, "A Football theme! Bloody brilliant!" before he sat down and thought, 'Don't you dare lose, Scorbunny. You're too awesome for that.'

"Hell yeah!" Talonflame cheered from the crowd, "That was awesome, Blaziken!" the falcon currently seated next to his girlfriend, a woman with long white hair named Tsuya.

She held onto his arm and said, "I'm really looking forward to this," sighing, "I just wish I could have seen your match," Talonflame groaning, "But I lost."

The woman gave him a peck on the cheek and replied, "Yeah, but you lost to Lucario. That's understandable, right?" the falcon chuckling nervously.

Alcremie folded her arms and said, "Not bad. It's good to know you take us seriously enough to go all the way," Scorbunny grinning and replying, "I take all my opponents seriously!" Stonjourner trying not to feel intimidated by this.

The female rabbit then picked up the Soccer ball and kicked it out of the ring before it fell against the floor and put a dent in it. Thus she winced and uttered, "How did you avoid doing that?" Blaziken chuckling, "I have been using these feet for a long time."

Once the teams were both prepared, Beedrill nodded and stated, "Well, folks, this is it. Without further ado, let's begin," thus he rang the bell and signalled the start of the match.

Blaziken knelt down and allowed Scorbunny to leap onto her shoulders. The female rabbit then launched herself off of them and flipped vertically toward Stonjourner with her feet on fire. The tall golem folded his arms in front of his face only for Scorbunny to plant her heels into his skull and squeal, "INFERNO AXE!"

Stonjourner's eyes widened while Blaziken dashed toward Alcremie and sent a knee kick into her gut. The cream girl winced before the chicken delivered a roundhouse to her side. All the while, after Scorbunny landed in front of Stonjourner, she knelt down and delivered a sweep kick to his right leg.

But as he winced in pain, the female rabbit tensed up when this failed to knocked him down. This left her vulnerable, thus Stonjourner forced a serious look, reeled his foot back and swung it forward into her face.

While this seemed like a simple hit, it actually dealt a considerable amount of pain as she rolled backwards into the ropes. Alcremie smirked and said, "Good job," before she took hold of Blaziken's leg and added, "Oh, by the way, those kicks of yours didn't really hurt me all that much. I'm made of whipped cream. I can handle it."

Blaziken's eyes widened as the cream girl inflated her arm and twisted her body up in a spiral formation. She then reeled her body inward, causing her and the chicken to spin like a pinwheel before she shouted, "SPIRAL SWING!" hurling Blaziken head-first into the turnbuckle.

The crowd stared in awe while Drizzile uttered, "Oh god. These guys are almost as bad as Scolipede and Geodude," Gallade gulping, "Yeah. At the very least, they can clearly handle more pain."

Alcremie smirked and thought, 'Everyone assumes I'm weak from my outward appearance. No matter how many matches I've won since graduation, no one ever takes me seriously enough. But once we win this tournament, that's gonna change.'

She remembered it plain as day, her graduation. It was the happiest moment of her life. And to top it all off, her assigned ally, Stonjourner was a wimp who had just barely managed to pass his graduation. As a result, she was left doing all the work, defeating a total of four opponents, including the only one the tall golem had fought and lost to.

And yet despite all of this, no one knew how good she was. This competition was the perfect time for her to finally show the world just what she was capable of, and she could not have asked for a better opponent to show off against.

With that in mind, she sped toward Blaziken before she could recover, inflated her arms again and sent her fists into her gut. The chicken cried out in pain before the cream girl lifted her up and leaned backward, planting the back of her head into the canvas.

"And Alcremie shows off an incredible display of strength and skill!" Beedrill exclaimed, "She's certainly not as soft as she looks!" Butterfree nodding and uttering, "Seriously, it's kinda scary."

Stonjourner, all the while, shifted his legs sideways and walked over Scorbunny before she could rise to her feet. By the time she did, it was already too late as he folded the legs upward against his sides, shouting, "FALLING ROCK!"

The female rabbit cried out in agonizing pain when he fell on her back. While she had faced many tough opponents in the past, these two hits were enough for her to feel as if Stonjourner might be one of the worst. He seemed insecure, but he was still clearly a good fighter with a very odd combat style.

Rolycoly bit his lower lip and whimpered, "That looked painful," Morgrem sighing, "Come on, we all know she can handle it. She stood up to Zacian's moves, remember?"

Even Melmetal expected much better from the rabbit than this. While she had lost her fight with him, she also put up an incredible fight. There was no way two hits would be enough to take her down or break her spirit.

Alcremie mounted herself onto Blaziken's back before she wrapped her body around her, binding her in place. The chicken's eyes widened and her teeth were gritted when she felt the cream stick to her feathers. And of course, things only got worse when Alcremie wrapped her arms around Blaziken's chin and started to pull up on them, shouting, "SPIRAL CLUTCH!"

Scorbunny stared in horror while Stonjourner rose to his feet and flipped his legs up a second time so he could crush her again. But at this point, the female rabbit would certainly not allow this to continue, thus when she saw Stonjourner descend, she rolled out of the way and allowed him to hit the canvas.

Panic covered his eyes when she leapt toward him with her heels out. Thus he instinctively rose back to his feet just in time to avoid an incoming kick, but it seemed as if she had expected this when she turned around and allowed her back to run into the ropes. She then flipped backward, aimed her feet toward the back of Stonjourner and launched herself toward him from behind.

The crowd watched in awe, Rillaboom and Drizzile both grinning when Scorbunny's feet caught flame and flew into Stonjourner's back before she exclaimed, "BURNING ROCKET!" His eyes went wide and he started to fall forward, but just like before, he managed to stop himself. This time, he shifted his legs apart from one-another so they were more spread out, and since they were still faced sideways, this made it easily for them to support him.

As such, he reached his arms back and latched them to the rabbit, grasping tightly onto her before he flipped her forward and upside down. He then folded his legs up one more time, descended toward the mat and shouted, "FALLING ROCK DRIVER!"

Blaziken's eyes widened at the sight of this, the back of Scorbunny's head hitting the canvas hard. Now Scorbunny's friends were concerned again while Stonjourner took many deep breaths and formed a nervous smile on his face. He was doing better than ever right now.

Of course, he did not wish to end his assault right here, thus he flipped his legs forward and exclaimed, "STONE SLAB NOVEL!" slamming them into Scorbunny's sides while Blaziken gritted her teeth and growled, "Screw this! I am not letting us lose this easily!"

With that in mind, she lit her body on fire and shifted sideways. Alcremie smirked and quipped, "Don't even bother. It's like Mr. Beedrill said, I may look soft on the outside, but in reality, I'm a hard killer! After today, the whole world will realize that!"

The chicken smirked and grunted, "That does make me feel a tad guilty, but you're not the only one who intends to win this tournament." Thus she managed to spin her body around and force Alcremie to release her. She then swung her arm back and rammed her elbow into the cream girl's cheek.

While Alcremie once again showed hardly any signs of pain, this was at least enough for Blaziken to shove her away from her. Thus she raced toward Stonjourner, leapt toward him and planted an axe kick into his skull. This proved just enough for him to spread his legs apart, Scorbunny twitching all over with terror in her eyes.

Blaziken wrapped her arms and legs around Stonjourner's left leg, asking, "Scorbunny, are you alright?" the tall golem crying out in pain while Raboot grunted, "Of course she's alright! She's a Bunfire, after all!"

The others turned before Drizzile uttered, "How did I not see the resemblance?" Rillaboom whispering, "Never mind that. How does he know she's related to him?"

It seemed as if the male rabbit was right, though, when Scorbunny frowned and shook her head. Once she snapped back to her senses, she leapt over Stonjourner and rammed her feet into his right arm. She then wrapped her own arms and legs around it before biting the hand slab and pulling up on it, causing his arm extra pain.

The crowd cheered while Blaziken and Scorbunny exclaimed, "SCORCH SPECIAL!" Nori stating, "When people said these two have similar styles, they were right! Not only can Scorbunny use similar kicks to those of Blaziken, but both now have Stonjourner trapped in what can only be described as a double Torch Family Special! But to top it off, Scorbunny has also added to the damage by biting into her opponent's hand and pulling on it!"

Blaziken looked at this and thought, 'That's not a bad idea,' before she clamped her beak down on the Stonjourner's foot and pulled her head back as well. All the while, Gallade stared at this and uttered, "I get it now. I see why Blaziken chose Scorbunny as her partner. Not only do they have similar styles, but Scorbunny's even managed to improve upon her signature moves."

Raboot folded his arms and said, "Can't say I approve of her using someone else's style as opposed to our family's, but if it works for her, whatever," Morgrem uttering, "Was that really necessary?"

But while Stonjourner seemed to be trapped, there was one problem, and this was made clear when Vaporeon gasped, "Wait, guys, did you forget about Alcremie!?"

The cream girl inflated her arms, bounced off the ropes and flew toward her opponents with both parts spread out. Luckily, though, it seemed as if Scorbunny and Blaziken saw this coming, thus they both released Stonjourner, lit their feet on fire and barked, "DOUBLE BLAZE KICK JUNIOR!" And once Alcremie was close enough, the Flying Phoenixes spun backwards and planted their feet into her face.

Her eyes widened as she coughed up a mix of blood and strawberry jelly. She looked down at this and gasped, "What the hell!?" breathing heavily and looking up at Blaziken, "I don't even feel pain! How did I cough up blood!?"

"It's simple," the chicken retorted while she cracked her knuckles, "Just because you can't feel pain doesn't mean you're not taking in damage. You say you're not as soft as you look, but you're clearly a glass cannon. You can dish out a lot of pain but you can't take it very well."

Alcremie's eye twitched while she thought, 'No, that can't be. This was supposed to be my big moment! There's no way this overrated McNugget can beat me!'

With that in mind, she glared at Stonjourner and snapped, "Hey, buddy, it's time we give them a taste of your ultimate technique!" the tall golem uttering, "Are you sure? Honestly, I've never really liked the idea behind this move. I always feel like I'm hurting you every time we practice it."

The cream girl gave him a sympathetic look and squealed, "You don't need to worry about me!" the tall golem sighing, "Well, okay, if you're sure about that."

Blaziken and Scorbunny frowned and leapt toward the cream girl only for her to dive under them. When she reached Stonjourner, she had him turn his legs sideways again and press them together. After that, she wrapped her body around them like a spiral with a smirk on her face.

"Do it now!" she exclaimed, the chicken and female rabbit staring in stunned silence. With that, Stonjourner took a deep breath, spread out his legs and started to spin them around like egg beaters. This caused Alcremie to swirl around them. And once she had built up enough momentum she and the tall golem exclaimed, "SPIRAL BEATER ROCKET!"

With that, the cream girl launched herself toward both opponents and rammed her body hard into their faces. Both gasped in pain and fell hard on their backs while Alcremie continued to fly and landed behind them. She then grinned and turned toward Stonjourner and asked, "See? That was worth it, wasn't it?"

However, neither the tall golem nor the crowd looked particularly positive. It seemed as if Stonjourner's concern earlier was warranted as Alcremie had more blood trickling from her gums. And when she saw the look of fear in his eyes, she blinked and uttered, "What? Did those other two get up already or something?"

"Well, it's just as Stonjourner said!" Beedrill exclaimed with a look of horror in his eyes, "That team move may have dealt some impressive damage to the Flying Phoenixes, but it seems to have done far more to the one who used it!"

Scorbunny and Blaziken's friends all stared as well, Drizzile uttering, "It's just like when Scorbunny uses a slam move. That was a huge risk," Alcremie barking, "What are you tall talking about!?"

Stonjourner pointed up at his mouth before Alcremie blinked and held her hand up to her own mouth. Her eyes widened when she felt liquid against it and moved it away from herself. She then placed the hands under her mouth to catch more droplets, holding them up in front of her face. She started to pant heavily while she shook her head and gasped, "No! Blaziken was wrong about me! I'm practically invincible! I haven't taken in any serious damage throughout this entire match!"

Sure enough, Blaziken and Scorbunny had already risen back to their feet before the chicken sighed, "If it means anything, Scorbunny and I here have a similar handicap. We can't use slam moves without putting a serious strain on ourselves, so it's not like we can use every move without repercussions. If you hadn't used that, you wouldn't be bleeding so badly right now."

Alcremie gritted her teeth and growled, "SHUT UP!" racing toward them before Stonjourner gasped, "Wait!" the cream girl turning toward him and barking, "What!? What do you want!?"

The tall golem knew it was pointless to ask her to give up, thus he sighed, "If you're gonna keep fighting, then let me continue to help," the cream girl gasping as she could see a serious look in his eyes. For the first time in his life, he was fully focused on the task at hand.

As such, she nodded before she and the tall golem raced toward their opponents. However, at this point, Scorbunny and Blaziken could tell they had this match in the bag when Alcremie's movement started to slow down and her eyelids sagged lightly. It seemed as if she was finally starting to feel the effects of every hit she had taken in.

As such, Scorbunny raced behind her, took hold of the back of her head and lit her feet in fire before she lifted then up. Blaziken, all the while, slid underneath Stonjourner, leapt up onto his back and took hold of his shoulders with her feet ablaze as well. With that, the Rocking Candies went wide-eyed before Scorbunny rammed her heels into the back of Alcremie's neck and Blaziken sent her feet into Stonjourner's back.

"DOUBLE BLAZE KICK!" the Flying Phoenixes cried as their opponents coughed up one last bit of blood and fell flat on their faces. The crowd went wild while Machoke exclaimed, "Yeah! Way to go!" Gardevoir squealing, "That was so cool! They really are the perfect team!"

Palkia watched this and uttered, "Um, Dialga, are you sure having those two fight together instead of the rabbit and mermaid was a good idea?" the blue dragon biting his lower lip as he was uncertain how to answer that.

Blaziken and Scorbunny turned to one-another and breathed heavily while their opponents lay there. Nori started the ten count while light smiles formed on their faces. And Once ten seconds were up, the woman rang the bell and shouted, "Well, folks, that's it for this match! The Flying Phoenixes advance to round two!"

The area erupted with cheers and applause, Rillaboom grinning and saying, "I knew they'd win," Aipom sighing, "Still, if Alcremie hadn't hurt herself like that, it would have been a lot more difficult."

After a few seconds, Alcremie slowly pushed herself up and glared at Blaziken, barking, "No!" The chicken turned to face her as she stood upright, hobbled toward her and grunted, "I can't lose! You don't understand how important this is! Since I came to Earth, I've defeated a total of six opponents, including the two I beat three days ago, and yet the world still thinks I'm just some weakling letting Stonjourner do everything for me! This was my chance to prove them wrong!"

Just as light tears that looked like blueberry juice formed in her eyes, Scorbunny approached her, placed her hand against her shoulder and squeaked, "You have nothing to prove!"

Everyone stared before she added, "You're really tough. You're actually a lot like my friend, Rolycoly. Like him, you can't really take a lot of hits, but you sure as hell can dish out a world of pain. The world would be foolish to look down on you after what they saw today."

Blaziken blinked and thought, 'Damn, she put that better than I would have,' the crowd giving the cream girl a round of applause while Stonjourner slowly rose to his feet and uttered, "Oh my god, I can still move."

Alcremie slowly approached him with a light smile and rested her hand against his leg, saying, "Well, come on, Stonjourner. We've lost. That makes us part of the audience now."

The tall golem nodded and slowly walked toward the bleachers, and while his eyes had been closed at the time, he had been conscious enough to hear what Scorbunny said. And deep down, he could not have been more grateful. Hopefully, Alcremie's obsession had finally been put to rest.

And with all said and done, Blaziken ruffled the fur atop Scorbunny's head before both chuckled and exited the ring. After all, there were only ten minutes before the next match, and Drizzile and Gallade felt more than prepared for it.


	16. Chapter 16

With Scorbunny and Blaziken's match out of the way, both were headed back to the bleachers to join their friends. All the while, Drizzile and Gallade stood up to head to the training area and prepare themselves. While their previous victory had been impressive, this was the green man's chance to win a match in front of a big crowd after so long, and this time, he would not blow it.

After all, his first victory on Earth was never witnessed by humans. Meanwhile, his victories that qualified him for the Olympics were in front of a small crowd. Needless to say, he had not yet made a true name for himself, but with Drizzile by his side, he was certain that he could.

However, a part of him did feel a tad nervous about this. After all, their opponents were good friends of Gallade's family. In fact, Gardevoir and Smeargle were best friends growing up. Even so, he knew it would be insulting if he held back, so he shook his head and thought, 'Just think of them like any other opponent.'

Once Scorbunny and Blaziken took a seat, Machoke smiled and exclaimed, "Way to go, guys!" Gardevoir squealing, "You were great!" Vaporeon biting his lower lip nervously. They really were a perfect team. Would she be able to defeat Scorbunny this time?

Zeraora noticed her look of nervousness and uttered, "Hey, are you okay?" the fox blinking before she nodded and replied, "Yeah, of course," before smiling at Scorbunny and saying, "Good job back there. I look forward to our match."

Scorbunny blinked and gasped, "Oh my god, you're right!" a big grin on her face, "We get to face off in the next round!" before Rillaboom stated, "I can't wait to see that. I feel like this has been a long time coming."

Vaporeon bit her lower lip and thought, 'Yeah, a long time coming,' though deep down, she hoped Zeraora could truly master his electricity by then.

Until that point, though, she would certainly support Drizzile. After all, as much as she envied the success of him and the others, they were still her friends. There was no way she would forget that.

Smeargle and Florges, all the while, were off preparing for the match themselves. The flower woman smiled and said, "I can't believe we get to face Gallade in the first round! This is exciting!" Smeargle nodding and replying, "It's funny. Before, I would have been terrified to face him in the ring. But now I wanna see if I can best him in a fair fight."

The ten minutes passed before Beedrill stated, "Well, folks, after a great couple of fights, it's now time for another one! In the red corner, one is a fierce fighter from France! Even though he has a rather poor track record, he has never once lost his fighting spirit and always fights to the best of his abilities! His partner is yet another addition to the tournament who until three days ago has never been seen in combat! Either way, perhaps he can impress us just like the other three newcomers! Give it up for the Aquatic Katana!"

The crowd cheered when Gallade and Drizzile somersaulted toward the ring, the chameleon atop his partner's shoulders. Once close enough, they leapt high into the air before Drizzile separated from Gallade. They then spun vertically and landed perfectly against the surface with their arms spread out.

"Good job, bro!" Gardevoir squealed, Drizzile's friends all shouting words of encouragement.

"And in the blue corner are a couple who are sure to amaze us," Butterfree stated, "One is a fighter who truly surprised us all in the last Ultimate World Team Tournament! While he used to have a terrible reputation, a great transformation has made him into a serious threat to anyone who faces him! The other is a beautiful professional singer who also enjoys fighting on the side! Give a round of applause to the Rising Stars!"

Everyone watched as the lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the entrance. Smeargle and Florges both entered on the back of a float covered in flowers, the flower woman holding a microphone while a classical score played in the background. She then held it up to her face and sang, "It is such a pleasure to be here right now in the wonderful city, Tokyo. The faces are bright and everything's right in the wonderful city, Tokyo."

Gardevoir beamed bright while Machoke uttered, "Damn, she's got some nice chops," Florges continuing, "The food is grand, the parks are lush, everything is as it should be. Whenever I walk along your soil, I feel truly free."

The song lasted another minute until Florges and Smeargle were in the ring. Both bowed before the crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause, Gallade joining in and exclaiming, "Bravo!" Drizzile chuckling and joining him. After all, he at least knew enough about Gallade to know that their opponents were good friends of his.

Florges giggled before Smeargle walked over to Gallade and bowed to him, saying, "That's how you greet people here, right? It's been a while," Smeargle chuckling, "Yeah, that's about right, but you don't need to be so formal with me."

Florges, on the other hand, simply hugged the man and kissed him on the cheek, the crowd truly amazed until Nori explained, "Oh yes, it's worth note that Gallade is really good friends with the Rising Stars, as is Gardevoir. It only makes sense they would show a great deal of respect before a match."

Gallade then smiled and said, "This is my awesome partner, Drizzile," the chameleon sighing, "You don't need to say that every time you introduce me," the green man chuckling, "Sorry. I just really, really mean that."

Florges and Smeargle both shook his hands before the beagle said, "Well, then, what say we prepare for our match, eh?" the Aquatic Katana nodding and heading to their side of the ring.

Once both were ready, Beedrill nodded and stated, "Well, folks, the teams are set. Let's begin," Nori ringing the bell before Gallade and Drizzile raced toward their opponents. Drizzile covered his hands in water and formed his katana while Gallade readied his arm blades.

Smeargle smirked and thought, 'Pardon, mon amie. Now that I'm strong enough to win, I'm not holding back,' thus he waited for Gallade to close in before throwing his tails in front of him and blocking the incoming strike with his pen tips. Before the green man could respond, the beagle latched onto his wrists, leaned backward and planted his skull into the canvas.

Drizzile, all the while, exclaimed, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!" and swung his blades toward Florges only for her to easily back away from them. She then covered her arms in petals and sent her palm into the chameleon's face, shouting, "PETAL DANCE!"

This caused the petals to fly into him and put small cuts on his body while he winced and thought, 'Okay, she's definitely tougher than she looks,' Gallade flipping upright after Smeargle released him.

However, things would soon get complicated when the beagle kept his back turned to the green man and sent his pen tips rapidly into him, shouting, "TRIPLE TAIL PEN BARRAGE!"

Gallade folded his arms and blocked a few of the strikes, but it did not prevent him from taking in the majority of them. Thus he quickly found his body covered in holes as Smeargle uttered, "Pardon. Am I going too far?" the green man chuckling, "Hey, it's a tournament. You're allowed to go all the way."

Even so, there was no way he would allow this to continue, thus he watched Smeargle's stabs and soon noticed a pattern. As such, he spread his arms out in an X formation and exclaimed, "PSYCHO CUT!" his blades hitting the beagle's back.

The crowd cheered when a gash formed and Smeargle flew forward slightly. He managed to stop himself from going too far by planting two of his tails into the canvas, but even so, he could not completely ignore the pain this caused.

This was all Gallade needed before he sent a roundhouse into the back of Smeargle's head. He then wrapped his arms around him, lifted him up and leaned backward. But rather than slamming his head into the mat, he released his hold and allowed the beagle to fly into Florges' cheek.

The flower woman's eyes were wide with shock as Drizzile breathed a sigh of relief and sent a kick into her gut. He then proceeded to plant his blades into her shoulders, though he did it more lightly than he normally would have in the past. After all, he did not wish to harm Gallade's friends too much.

Even so, there was no way he would let this opportunity pass, thus he leapt into the air, leaned backward and shouted, "AQUATIC KATANA SUPLEX!" Sure enough, Florges' skull hit the canvas hard as she gasped, the crowd truly amazed by this.

"Oh, that's why they're called the Aquatic Katana!" Machoke gasped, Blaziken uttering, "You know, I should have realized that sooner."

Vaporeon smiled while Zeraora thought, 'They have such good mastery of their elements. I haven't seen Rillaboom in action yet, but I imagine she's probably really good with her grass powers,' a serious look forming on his face. There was no doubt about it. He would master his electricity before the next match no matter what.

Scorbunny and Rillaboom bit their lowers lips only for Gardevoir to giggle, "You can cheer for Drizzile if you want. We won't hold it against you," Machoke nodding and replying, "Besides, even if they are up against our friends, I really wanna see Gallade win a match. I've never seen any of his victories."

Smeargle slowly rose to his feet and rubbed his head. He then turned toward Florges and gasped, "Are you okay, mon amour?" the flower woman chuckling, "Oui. It'll take more than that to take me down."

With that in mind, Drizzile readied himself only for Florges to take hold of Smeargle's hand. She spun her body around while petals covered her. They then proceeded to circle around the beagle before she launched him toward Drizzile and exclaimed, "SAKUROCKET!"

Drizzile was unable to move in time to avoid taking Smeargle's skull to his gut. And it did not end there when Gallade raced in to help only for Florges to speed behind him and latch onto his shoulders. She then leapt into the air and spun backward while more petals surrounded her.

"TWIRLING SAKURA STORM!" she shouted before planting Gallade's skull into the canvas. Smeargle, all the while, lifted up Drizzile with his tails and flung him backward into the turnbuckle.

The green man grunted and slowly pushed himself away from the pole while Drizzile flipped himself back up. However, both could not help but tense up a little bit when Florges winked at Smeargle and enquired, "What say we show them our ultimate technique, non?"

The beagle grinned and replied, "Oh, oui, mon amour," Gallade trembling and thinking, 'Oh god, what could they possibly have in store? Smeargle was terrifying enough when he was with Vespiquen. What could he possibly pull off with Florges by his side?'

Smeargle took hold of Florges' hand before she smiled and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to be entranced by our Magnifique Dancing Style!" before she lifted up Smeargle and twirled with his tails pointed outward.

Drizzile and Gallade tensed up when Florges advanced toward them, she and Smeargle barking, "TWIRLING SAKURA BUZZ SAW!" Gallade once again folding his arms in front of his face before the beagle's tails scraped against them. Drizzile frowned and leapt over them, soon positioning himself over Florges' head.

He then uncurled his tail and pointed the tip toward her skull, shouting, "CHAMELEON LANCE!" descending toward her only for her to toss Smeargle into the air after surrounding him with petals. Drizzile's eyes widened when the beagle managed to sway out of the way of his tail before holding his hands over his head and spinning his body like a twister.

"SAKURA BALLET KICK!" Smeargle exclaimed before delivering multiple hard kicks to Drizzile's gut. The chameleon coughed up blood after he took in four, and by the time he succumbed to a twelfth one, he was sent backward into the turnbuckle again.

Gallade gasped, "DRIZZILE!" dropping his guard. This allowed Florges to send a karate chop into each of his cheeks before she started to shake her rear end and throw her hands up and down. She repeatedly smacked Gallade's chin with the heels of her hands.

After dealing twenty four hits to him, she held her hands against her hips and shifted them around while petals circled around her. The sway of her hips caused them to spread out and cover Gallade in cuts while she exclaimed, "HANA TWIST!" soon ramming said parts repeatedly into the green man's pelvis.

This caused him to cough up blood before Florges bumped her rear end into him just hard enough for him to fly backward and land hard on his back. He could not believe this. The Rising Stars had already been tough before, but this change in tactics helped them immensely.

"This fancy new style has certainly given the Rising Stars a major edge in this match!" Nori stated, "I guess it only makes sense that a famous performer would know how to turn dancing into a deadly weapon!" Butterfree sighing, "I feel like that's something most performers could do," Beedrill shushing her.

Gardevoir's eyes sparkled before she whimpered, "I feel so bad! I want to cheer for them, but I also want to support my brother!" Machoke sighing, "Believe me, it's taken every bit of strength for me not to give them a round of applause."

Of course, Drizzile's friends were concerned for his sake, but they also had a feeling that if anyone could turn this around, it was him. After all, in their time, the chameleon was the world Olympic champion. There was no way he would go down this easily.

Smeargle and Florges were more than ready to continue their assault when Drizzile narrowed his eyelids and realized the same thing. As such, he turned to Gallade and enquired, "Hey, Gallade, I know these guys are your friends and all, but is it okay if I use, you know, that against them?"

The green man bit his lower lip. A part of him wanted to win this particular match without having to rely on the chameleon's defensive tactic, but not only had he already used it against two of the green man's friends, but right now, they were in a situation that really called for it. As such, he took a deep breath and replied, "Alright, go for it."

With that in mind, Drizzile closed his eyes and ear holes. Florges and Smeargle seemed to think nothing of this when the beagle allowed the flower woman to lift him up. She then launched him high into the air before he flipped vertically toward Drizzile's skull, shouting, "BALLET AXE KICK!"

Just like before, Drizzile felt the attack coming, thus he somersaulted backward just in time to avoid it. He then formed water around his hands and morphed it into a pair of daggers. Before Smeargle could react, the chameleon raced toward him and exclaimed, "AQUATIC DAGGERS!" throwing them downward in an X formation and forming a small cut on the beagle's gut.

Smeargle gasped before Drizzile changed his daggers into big gloves and shouted, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!" before he sent two karate chops into his shoulders.

Smeargle cried out in agonizing pain before Florges gasped and sped toward Drizzile with petals circling around her again. She then sent her arm forward and exclaimed, "PETAL DANCE!"

But while Drizzile backed up just in time to avoid a palm punch, he winced when the petals flew into him and covered him in cuts like before. Gallade gasped and thought, 'That's right, when he uses this ability, he can feel the opponents' movements but nothing else. That means long-range attacks can still catch him off guard.'

The others could see this as well, Vaporeon groaning, "It's like the finals. When Melmetal whipped out his spikes, Drizzile was unable to hit him even with that tactic," Machoke uttering, "What tactic?"

The others blinked before Morgrem explained, "That's right, you've never seen this in action. When Drizzile blocks off all sense of sight and hearing, he can feel his opponent's movements and dodge anything that comes at him. However, he can only detect close range abilities. Any projectile serves as an exception."

Rolycoly nodded and added, "It also only lasts two minutes," Gardevoir uttering, "Wow, it's like my family power," Blaziken truly shocked by this.

Aipom nodded and said, "Well, that is certainly a useful tactic regardless, but definitely risky against an opponent like Florges. Let's hope Gallade has what it takes to help him out with that."

It seemed as if the green man was thinking just that when he sighed, "Forgive me, Florges and Smeargle, but I gotta help my partner," thus he raced toward the flower woman just as she was about to send more petals into Drizzile. Once close enough, he leapt toward her and sent a roundhouse into her cheek.

Smeargle gasped, "Honey!" only for Florges to retort, "Don't worry about moi! Deal with Drizzile!" the beagle nodding and racing toward the chameleon with his arm out.

Thankfully, since Smeargle had no long-range abilities, this was much easier. Thus Drizzile easily ducked under the incoming arm and swept his leg into the beagle's ankle, causing him to fall on his back. He then latched his legs to the beagle's right leg and used his hands to pull on his foot, the crowd cheering wildly.

Gallade, however, found himself in trouble when Florges sent a barrage of palm punches into his face, spinning left and right like a dancer. But while the green man felt pain from this, there was something else weighing heavily on his mind. He had chosen to focus primarily on Florges to help his partner, and while it had worked, it did not change the fact that he had taken in the most hits up to this point.

With that in mind, Gallade took a deep breath and waited for Florges to send another palm punch toward him. When she did, he held up his arm with the blade pointed forward. Thus the flower woman struck that instead and put a cut on her palm before she cried out in pain.

Smeargle gasped and pried himself out of Drizzile's grip, barking, "I'll help you! Hold on!" only for the chameleon to latch onto his sides and leap into the air, leaning backward and planting the back of the beagle's skull into the canvas.

Florges found herself in just as much trouble as Gallade unloaded a barrage of punches into her, thinking, 'This is for you, Hitmonchan!' Then after he delivered a total of thirty, he took hold of the flower woman's shoulders and leaned backward, kicking her in the gut and causing her to fly backward and land on top of Smeargle.

Drizzile realized two minutes had passed and opened his eyes just in time to see this. When he noticed both opponents start to rise, he felt Gallade rest a hand on his shoulder before he asked, "So, what say we end this together as a team?"

Drizzile nodded before he formed his katana and leapt atop Gallade's shoulders. With the green man's arms folded in a cross formation, Drizzile did the same thing with his blades before both Aquatic Katana leapt toward their opponents.

Smeargle and Florges had just barely managed to get back to their feet when they saw this. Thus both stared wide-eyed before each received a strike to the midsection, Gallade and Drizzile barking, "AQUATIC PSYCHO CUT!"

Just as the name implied, both threw their arms downward and put X-shaped cuts in the Rising Stars' chests. Thus blood squirted out before both cried out in pain and fell on their backs. The crowd stared in stunned silence and watched in anticipation while Nori started the ten count, Beedrill exclaiming, "And in a shocking turn of events, the Aquatic Katana keep the advantage with an impressive display of teamwork! But will this be enough!?"

Dialga and Palkia all the while stared at Drizzile in shock. With a defensive skill like what he had displayed earlier, he could certainly be a big threat. After all, as strong as the dragons were, they did not have any long-ranged moves.

Sure enough, ten seconds passed, thus Nori rang the bell and exclaimed, "And after quite an intense match, The Aquatic Katana have come out on top, therefor they will advance to round two!"

The area erupted with cheers and applause, Beedrill stating, "This is truly a momentous occasion, folks! Gallade has managed to advance past the first round of a tournament! While his incredible partner certainly helped with that, he certainly did not hold back himself!"

Gardevoir squealed with delight and clapped wildly while Machoke and Blaziken both cheered for their friend. And of course, the others were just happy to see Drizzile come out on top, Zeraora uttering, "Wow, they were able to handle so much. These hero fights are amazing."

Gallade held up his fist before Drizzile pounded his own against it. Both definitely needed a good rest after that, but this was truly a moment to remember.

The green man then gasped, "Oh shit, did we deal too much damage!?" only for Smeargle and Florges to slowly rise to their feet with light smiles. The beagle chuckled, "Bon travail, Gallade. That was incroyable," Florges nodding and adding, "You too, Drizzile. Your were tres magnifique."

The chameleon chuckled, "Thanks," before Gallade uttered, "Are you sure you should be standing right now? My Psycho Cut can be pretty deadly."

Both laughed before the beagle sighed, "We just need a good rest. Best of luck in the quarter-finals," before he and his wife turned around and exited the ring.

Gallade and Drizzile both smiled at one-another before Beedrill stated, "And that concludes the first three matches. Therefor, we will all take an hour-long break before the next three. Feel free to look around the lobby. There are plenty of food vendors inside."

Gallade blinked and uttered, "Oh yeah. What say we get a bite to eat?" Drizzile grinning and replying, "That sounds really good right now," the others getting up to join them.

But while things seemed fine, Dialga watched them all and said, "Any one of those teams could prove a serious threat to us. Luckily, they're all in the first bracket, so we'll only have to face one of them. Still, Palkia, no matter who we face, I hope you're prepared."

The purple dragon nodded and replied, "Of course. They may be tough, but we're way tougher," the blue dragon folding his arms with a grin on his face.


	17. Chapter 17

With Gallade and Drizzile's match out of the way, almost everyone was ready to enjoy some much needed downtime. The chameleon and green man sat at a table with food they had bought from a nearby stand while the others joined them, Machoke grinning and exclaiming, "Way to go, Gallade! You've truly earned this!"

The green man chuckled, "Well, I certainly didn't do it alone," Drizzile nodding and adding, "You guys better watch yourselves. We might just take the championship title from you."

Blaziken smirked and replied, "If I hadn't seen what I saw today, I wouldn't have believed it," Scorbunny nodding and squealing, "You were awesome as always, Drizzile!"

Vaporeon smiled and thought, 'Yeah, they're both just as great as ever, Drizzile and Scorbunny. Now I really hope I'll be ready for my next match three days from now,' Zeraora digging into a bit of gyudon he had bought.

Raboot, who was seated next to the female rabbit, chuckled, "You guys are cooler than I thought. It takes real sportsmanship to feel so positive after hearing something like that," before enquiring, "So, um, where are the monkeys and those weird Halloween creatures who were with you?"

Scorbunny rose an eyebrow before Drizzile replied, "Well, Rolycoly and Morgrem are fighting next, so they figured they may as well use this time to prepare themselves. And while Rillaboom and Aipom aren't exactly up next, they will be the last to fight in this portion, so they won't get any other chances."

Machoke nodded and replied, "That sounds like Aipom. She's always planning things in advance," a big grin on his face, "I'm really looking forward to that. I wonder if Rillaboom will be as awesome as I was when Aipom teamed up with me."

Blaziken smiled and replied, "I doubt it. You two were awesome together. Although I have heard a little bit from those who saw her match in the elimination round. Apparently, Rillaboom is a good ally for her."

Gallade shrugged and replied, "Well, whatever the case, I'm sure they'll win. I mean, their opponents are Magnemite and Squirtle. Those two don't exactly have the best reputation."

"Yeah, along with Throh and Sawk, they make you look like a champion by comparison," Blaziken remarked, the green man lowering his eyelids before Gardevoir patted him atop the head with a sweet smile on her face.

"Wow," Zeraora said with a light smile, "You guys really do have a strong connection, don't you?" the others looking at him before he laughed nervously and uttered, "Sorry. It's just, well, it's been a while since I really had friends."

The others stared at him before Vaporeon patted the cat on the shoulder and replied, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Zeraora sighing, "Thanks. I thought I'd have to reveal my entire back story after saying that."

At that moment, Florges approached the group along with Smeargle and asked, "May we join you for lunch?" the others nodding with big smiles. Thus the couple took a seat and joined into the conversation, both very interested in Gallade and Gardevoir's new friends.

All the while, Rolycoly and Morgrem worked hard to get ready for their match. The golem sent a barrage of punches into a sandbag while the goblin clawed at another. She figured since she could no longer cut opponents with her hair, perhaps she could make use of her fingers seeing as they looked enough like claws.

However, while they may have appeared sharp, it seemed they were not as they showed next to no results. Morgrem let out a sigh before Rolycoly took hold of her shoulders and said, "Come on, you were great against that bear and dog thing. You don't need a sharp weapon, well, save for your fangs."

"I know," Morgrem replied with a light smile, "I just figure if I could turn something like hair into a deadly weapon, I could do the same with my fingers," before gasping, "Or maybe I could turn my nose into a weapon! Maybe if I told a lie, it would grow into a spearhead!"

A big open-mouth smile appeared on her face until Rolycoly uttered, "I don't think that would work for you," Morgrem remarking, "Well, it doesn't hurt to try," turning to face her partner while she brought her face rather close to his and said, "I totally didn't steal your bag of chips the other day."

After a few seconds, she let out a sigh and groaned, "Yeah, you're right, that was a long shot," Rolycoly retorting, "What the hell!? Were you trying to stab my forehead!?" He then realized what she said and whimpered, "Wait, so you really did steal my chips?"

Morgrem took a deep breath only for the golem to clear his throat and enquire, "Come on, where's all that confidence you had before?" the goblin breathing in and out before a smile formed on her face. Thus she nodded her head and replied, "You're right. I'm overthinking this."

During this time, Rillaboom and Aipom were hard at work. Though after they practised their abilities, the monkey smiled and said, "Hey, I've been thinking, since this is technically your big debut here in Tokyo, maybe we could do something special for our entrance. Scorbunny's idea for Blaziken clicked well with audiences, so I'm all for whatever you have in mind."

Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "Oh, uh, thanks, but I'm okay with a simple entrance," Aipom sighing, "Don't feel like you have to hold back for my sake. I mean, yeah, I've always found Machoke's entrances questionable, but they always give him this great burst of spirit. I allowed Machoke to make his own weird entrance when we teamed up but didn't really put one on myself. I figure maybe I could give it a go just this once, you know?"

The gorilla tapped her chin and thought about this. After all, she had tried an over-the-top entrance in the Olympics and it had gone over well. As such, she smiled, nodded and gave Aipom a thumb up. She had just the entrance for the two of them and the materials to pull it off. But of course, it would have to wait until their match.

Shaymin and Melmetal were off getting ready as well. The hedgehog had just finished her lunch inside a training room while the cyborg rammed his fists into a punching bag and scraped his hexagonal nuts against them. He then took a deep breath and asked, "Are you sure you wanna stay in here until our match is announced?"

"Yep," Shaymin replied, "I did say I'd consider letting the others partake in the tournament, but I figure once we beat those dragons, there'll be no need for us to participate anymore."

"Oh, so you're just gonna drop out even if we win?" Melmetal replied with a look of slight disappointment in his eye, the hedgehog letting down nervous sweat and chuckling, "Well, look, I have no doubt Rillaboom and Aipom will win, and I know how both of them fight. I don't need to watch their match."

The cyborg shrugged his shoulders and figured that was a good enough answer. Even so, he really hoped they could win. After all, he had not yet seen Dialga and Palkia in combat. What if they were worse than he was back when he was evil? He just had to trust that Shaymin knew what she was doing, and even then, she did not always seem mentally stable enough to think straight.

Soon enough, the full hour had passed and the bleachers were filled. Everyone was seated to watch the match, Rillaboom and Aipom sitting down and wiping a bit of sweat off of their foreheads. Machoke blinked and said, "You two look like you've been working hard," the gorilla sighing, "You have no idea."

Vaporeon nodded and said, "I have no doubt you'll win, just like Morgrem and Rolycoly," Zeraora nodding and adding, "Just think, all of you might actually advance to the next round. Imagine how much more fun it would be just to face your friends, eh?"

The fox bit her lower lip and thought, 'Yeah, just my friends,' remembering how she lost to Scorbunny in a sparring match. While she seemed to accept it at the time, deep down, it had dealt a serious blow to her self-esteem, especially after her loss of Dragapult earlier. This was why she would treat the rabbit like any other opponent no matter what.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are back with more exciting action!" Beedrill exclaimed with his eyes implying a smile, "It's been an incredible first round, but we still have five matches to go!"

Butterfree nodded and stated, "In the red corner, we have two more newcomers and a couple who haven't had a lot of exposure until now! Our first team is a rather odd pair who apparently gave Ursaring and Houndoom a real run for their money! One is a scary gremlin who may not look all that strong but certainly isn't to be underestimated! Her partner may be short, but his rocky exterior makes him a true force to be reckoned with! Presenting Hell's Demons!"

The crowd watched in anticipation when rock music started to play in the background. Morgrem rode toward the ring on Rolycoly's back while she held one hands like a motorcycle handle and held a flag with a picture of a gargoyle painted by the golem himself. When the two were close enough, she leapt off his back and flipped vertically into the ring, Rolycoly propelling himself high into the air and landing next to her. After he did so, he circled around her with his arms in the air and his pointing fingers and pinkies sticking up.

But after he stopped, it seemed as if the two were not yet finished their entrance when Morgrem pulled out a microphone and sang, "We're glad you came to see us both kick ass on this super awesome day! These two losers who think they're so hot, we're gonna make 'em pay!"

The crowd stared while many of them started to smile, Rolycoly adding, "Yes, by the time we're through, they'll wish they'd never tried, because we're gonna take them on a rough and deadly ride!"

Their friends simply stared at this, none of them really knowing how to react. While the motorcycle theme was expected, this was unlike anything they had ever done before. But what really surprised the group was just how good their singing was, especially since Rolycoly always sounded insecure whenever he spoke, even when he was confident.

"We're Hell's Demons, the greatest team that you have ever seen!" both belted, "When we fight together, we're the ultimate killing machines!"

The music ended while both shifted their heads up and down, Morgrem's tongue sticking out while Rolycoly had the biggest smile on his face. And it only got bigger when the crowd went wild, Butterfree uttering, "Wow, that was actually kind of epic."

It took all of Beedrill's might not to applaud this, but he ultimately caved in when he saw Nori doing just that and even whistling. Sure enough, Morgrem and Rolycoly's friends joined in, Gardevoir squealing, "We should do something like that!" Machoke uttering, "But we are gonna do something like that," the white woman blinking and uttering, "Oh yeah."

Rolycoly turned to Morgrem with tears in his eyes and sniffed, "That was the best idea for an entrance ever!" the goblin nodding only for Beedrill to clear his throat and state, "Wow, what an entrance. Anyway..."

He then pointed to the western side of the stadium and stated, "In the blue corner are two mighty twins sure to quite literally shock and amaze us all. With incredible power that can truly bring down the house, I present the Electric Metal Heads!"

At that moment, more rock music sounded through the area, but when everyone looked at the opposite entrance, they noticed this was not coming from any speakers. Instead, Toxtricity and Sutorinda both provided their own music by forming guitar strings with electricity.

They walked toward the ring with intense looks in their eyes while the male lizard sang, "You think you're hot shit, acting high and mighty in that ring!? Well let me tell you that you losers do not know a thing!" his sister adding, "We're the real talent here! We're the whole damn show! Now get your asses off our stage, it's time for you to go!"

Rolycoly blinked and trembled, Morgrem trying her hardest not to lose her cool while Rillaboom sighed, "Did this really just become a battle of the bands?"

Toxtricity leapt into the ring and slid along the surface on his knees while he continued to play his strings and belt, "We're the real talent here, we're the real rising stars!" Sutorinda joining him before she walked toward the two and continued, "You're just a couple of nobodies! No one here knows who you are!"

"If you newbies think you can take us, then you're messed up in the head!" Toxtricity laughed, "Mark my words, by the time we're done, you will wind up dead!"

The strings vanished as the crowd went wild, Morgrem frowning and trying her hardest to maintain her fighting spirit. Sure, these two seemed intimidating, but for all she knew, they might very well have been all talk. And Rolycoly had to remind himself that he had defeated someone far more intimidating than these two, thus he took a deep breath and sported a serious look of his own.

Both teams walked to opposite sides of the ring while Butterfree stared and uttered, "Is it wrong that I kinda wanted that to continue?" Beedrill shaking his head and replying, "If that had been the entire match, I would have been satisfied."

Nori looked back and forth between the two before she shrugged and stated, "Alright, folks, the combatants are set! Let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Morgrem immediately leapt onto Rolycoly's back before the golem sped toward the lizards, both shouting, "ROCK RAGE!" Morgrem pointed her skull forward before she and Rolycoly rammed both of theirs into Toxtricity.

The yellow lizard flew backwards as Sutorinda gasped, "Bro!" only for Morgrem to leap off of Rolycoly's back. The golem then cross his arms in front of his face and sent them into the blue lizard's ankles thus causing her to fly into the air and lean forward.

When she reached Morgrem's level, the goblin wrapped her arms around her neck and descended toward the mat. She slammed Sutorinda's chin into the canvas while the crowd went wild. Needless to say, they were all beyond impressed by this opening assault.

"Damn!" Vaporeon exclaimed with her eyes wide open, "They really have improved!" Rillaboom nodding and replying, "Seriously. I've never seen them fight this well before."

Aipom blinked and said, "Even so, a good start doesn't always equal a good ending. As long as they keep this up, I can see them putting Toxtricity and Sutorinda in their place."

Morgrem was not finished as she mounted herself onto Sutorinda's back and barked, "FANG SUBMISSION!" planting her teeth into the blue lizard's skull. A bit of blood leaked out while she cried out in pain.

All the while, Rolycoly knocked Toxtricity onto his back with a clothesline. He then propelled himself into the air and landed hard against the yellow lizard's belly. "MEDIEVAL SHARPENER!" he yelled while he scraped his wheel up against that very spot.

Big cheers sounded all throughout the stadium while Beedrill exclaimed, "Already, Hell's Demons have proven themselves a real force to be reckoned with! They may look weak, but they're clearly anything but! The Electric Metal Heads are at their mercy!"

It seemed as if that might not be the case, though, when Sutorinda smirked at her brother and enquired, "So, you think we've shown them enough pity?" Toxtricity replying, "Yeah. They're good, but they're not us."

Rolycoly blinked and uttered, "What?" before Morgrem barked, "Are you seriously implying that you've been playing possum!?"

"Well, not really," Toxtricity remarked, "See, when we know we're about to face total weaklings in the ring, we share a little of our glory with them and let them beat us up a little bit, you know, make them feel better about themselves."

"Doesn't explaining it kinda defeat the purpose?" Machoke uttered while the others hoped this was all a bluff. Unfortunately, it seemed as if there may have been truth to their words after all when Sutorinda's frills started to move like a buzz saw. Morgrem's eyes widened when it put a cut into the middle of her mouth, blood flying out before she removed her fangs and cried out in pain.

Rolycoly gasped when Toxtricity immediately lifted his arms, formed sparks around his hands and planted them into the golem's sides. While he was made of coal, this still dealt some pain to him, thus he ended his assault and allowed the yellow lizard to rise to his feet with a smirk on his face.

Morgrem trembled as she felt her lips and panted heavily, Sutorinda quipping, "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to lower your guard for a second during a fight!?" sending a back kick into the goblin's midsection. She then spun around and delivered a karate chop to her neck powered by electricity. Zeraora watched this and thought, 'Wow, she's so good at that.'

Toxtricity, all the while, lifted Rolycoly up and slammed his face into the canvas. The people gasped as the golem groaned and thought, 'It's just like when Rillaboom got the upper hand against me.'

Things only got worse for him when Toxtricity knelt down, rested his knees against the golem's sides and rammed his elbows repeatedly into him. Gallade tensed up and uttered, "Oh god, we might actually have to face those two in the next round," Drizzile frowning and grunting, "But we can take them, right?"

The green man nodded and nervously said, "Right, of course. For a second there, I was thinking like classic Machoke," the reptilian staring awkwardly at him.

However, there was no way Morgrem would allow that. As such, after she succumbed to an onslaught of strikes from Sutorinda, she growled and grabbed hold of her wrist. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the blue lizard was ready for that when she sent a fierce knee kick into the goblin's gut. She then walked behind Morgrem, lifted up her leg and sent it hard into her back, forcing her to fall on her chin.

"Good job, sis," Toxtricity said with a smirk before he lifted Rolycoly up and hurled him into the turnbuckle. Sutorinda nodded with a smile, mounted herself onto Morgrem's back and wrapped one arm around her neck, grunting, "Unlike you, I don't need fangs or two arms to pull off an impressive submission hold!"

Morgrem's eyes and mouth were wide with terror. She could not believe this. She was just as pathetic as she had been back when she and Rolycoly just started and all they ever did was get their butts kicked by every hero they faced. Even the first time they fought a pair of villains, they lost horribly.

With that in mind, Morgrem gritted her teeth and hissed, "No! We won't lose!" before taking hold of Sutorinda's forearm. She tried her hardest to pry it off only for the blue lizard to tighten her hold and grunt, "Don't bother! It's clear you severely lack any real muscle!"

Toxtricity, all the while, lifted Rolycoly up, leaned backward and planted the back of his head into the canvas. He then let out a laugh and exclaimed, "This is so easy! I don't even need to use any signature moves!"

As soon as Morgrem heard this, she fumed all over and spat, "NO! WE'RE BETTER THAN THIS!" everyone gasping when suddenly, the tips of her fingers sharpened and elongated. Sutorinda's eyes widened when she felt them stab her forearm. Thus she cried out in pain and stood upright. And since she picked up Morgrem with her, the goblin now had a perfect opportunity to kick her in the shin and cause her to let go.

The crowd stared in awe while Morgrem backed away from Sutorinda and panted heavily, looking at her hands and thinking, 'I can't believe it. I can use them like claws after all.'

With that in mind, a smirk crossed her face before she spun toward Sutorinda with her hands spread out and exclaimed, "GRIZZLY BLADE!" The blue lizard was spellbound when she took multiple slashes to her chest and blood squirted out.

Toxtricity turned away from Rolycoly and gasped, "Sis!" only for Morgrem to leap into the air and plant her foot hard into Sutorinda's skull, knocking the blue lizard on her back. She then propelled herself toward Toxtricity and flipped vertically toward him with her fingers pointed over her head and shouted, "GRIZZLY SABER!"

The crowd was truly amazed when the yellow lizard took a fierce slash to his belly and cried out in pain. Morgrem wrapped her arms around him, planted her fingers into his back and bit his shoulder, grunting, "FANG SUPLEX!" leaping into the air and flipping herself one hundred and eighty degrees.

Rolycoly finally managed to shake off the pain he had succumbed to up to this point and stared in awe when Toxtricity's skull hit the canvas hard. Morgrem then released him and allowed him to collapse before she flipped herself upright and breathed heavily with a big smile on her face. The golem approached her and rested a hand on her shoulder with a grin.

"Wow, that was so cool," he said before Morgrem nodded and said, "Hey, thanks for always believing in me, buddy," giving him a thumb up.

But of course this match was not yet over, and it showed when Toxtricity and Sutorinda rose back to their feet. Both took a few deep breaths before the blue lizard bowed her head and said, "Mad props, gremlin. That was an impressive display of skill."

Morgrem blushed bright and chuckled, "Well, um, I don't know what to say," only for Toxtricity to sigh, "But even so, just because you're better than we first thought doesn't mean you're at our level. You still have a long way to go before that."

"How can he still be so arrogant after all of that!?" Scorbunny growled only to Rillaboom to utter, "Have you seen half of our opponents up to this point?"

Everyone stared in confusion when the lizards formed their guitar strings made entirely out of electricity again. Zeraora blinked and uttered, "Wait, are they gonna sing again?" Vaporeon sighing, "Somehow I get the feeling it's not gonna be as simple as that."

Toxtricity grinned, held his finger up in the air and exclaimed, "Hello, Tokyo! How are you all doing!?" the crowd even more confused, "It's been a great show so far, but now it's time for the final performance!" Beedrill and Butterfree both intrigued by this while Nori scratched the side of her head.

Toxtricity and Sutorinda ran their fingers quickly along their strings and shouted, "OVERDRIVE!" before a large sound wave shot out and headed straight into Morgrem and Rolycoly. The Hell's Demons covered their ears only to receive even more pain when lightning swirled within the sound and struck them both hard.

They cried out in agony while the electricity coursed through them, Drizzile gasping, "Oh my god! Why didn't I think they'd have an ability like that!?" Aipom groaning, "That really should have been obvious."

Toxtricity and Sutorinda kept this up for a while before they figured their opponents had suffered enough, thus they stopped their attack and Sutorinda gave her brother a thumb up and said, "Time for the finishing blow, wouldn't you say?"

"Damn right," Toxtricity replied before he and his sister leapt off of the ropes toward their opponents. The two then turned their bodies sideways and face one-another, holding each other's hands and feet. They proceeded to spin like a wheel while their frills spiked up.

Sure enough, Morgrem and Rolycoly were unable to respond in time. As such, the goblin took a fierce slash to her midsection while Rolycoly took one to the skull, the Electric Metal Heads shouting, "LIGHTNING SAW!"

Morgrem coughed up blood as Rolycoly groaned in pain. Both fell on their sides and lay there before Nori started the ten count, Scorbunny crying, "OH MY GOD!"

Drizzile frowned and folded his arms with a serious look in his eyes. There was no doubt he and Gallade would defeat these two for sure.

After ten seconds, Nori rang the bell and stated, "And our winners are the Electric Metal Heads! Therefor they will advance to round two!"

The crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause while Toxtricity and Sutorinda held their hands up in the air and formed peace signs. Scorbunny bit her lower lip with concern as Gallade took a deep breath and uttered, "It's fine. We can totally beat those two."

But deep down, everyone could only hope that this was true. After all, the lizards seemed like posers at first, but they really could back up their claims. Hopefully Drizzile and Gallade could defeat them in the second round.


	18. Chapter 18

While things had gone well for the heroes of Edmonton so far, it seemed to have taken a rather dark turn as Morgrem and Rolycoly were out cold. While Rillaboom watched medics carry them away on stretchers, she frowned and thought, 'Don't worry, guys. We'll win our match for sure, then Drizzile and Gallade will make those two pay.'

"Well, folks, with that match out of the way, it's now time for our ten minute break," Beedrill stated, "Will the next two teams get ready for their match?" Shaymin overhearing this from the training area and squealing, "Did you hear that, Melmetal!? It's our time to shine!"

Melmetal nodded with an implied smile and said, "Yep. You know, I doubted this strategy at first, but you know what? I feel like we can really do this. Besides, it's like you said. Dialga and Palkia are our top priority."

"Exactly," the hedgehog replied, "If we just happen to become the tournament champions afterwards, it'll be a nice bonus," a big grin on her face before she and the cyborg bumped their fists together.

Dialga stood up from his seat and said, "Well, you heard the insect, Palkia. Let's show these people why they should fear us when this is all over," Palkia nodding and getting up along with him.

Rillaboom watched them walk down the steps and thought, 'Right, I keep forgetting why we came to this time in the first place. But I'm sure Melmetal and Shaymin can beat them. After all, Melmetal's tough, really tough, and I can only imagine there's a reason Shaymin's the chairwoman of our time.'

After the ten minutes passed, Beedrill stated, "Alright, everyone, it's now time for the fifth match! While every match up until now has included at least one new hero, this one will be especially unpredictable as we are yet to see any of these fighters in combat!"

Butterfree nodded and exclaimed, "In the red corner is a rather odd team to say the least! One is a ball of energy who's more than eager to kick some major ass! Her partner is a rather intimidating cyborg! Introducing the Metallic Terrors!"

"Metallic Terrors?" Vaporeon uttered, "That was the best they could come up with?" Zeraora replying, "I don't see what's so bad about that."

Everyone watched when Melmetal and Shaymin rode toward the ring atop a float with a model of Hero Planet's tower of justice on top. Beedrill's eyes sparkled as he uttered, "Wow, this is the first time I've ever seen anyone add an homage to Hero Planet to their entrance," Butterfree nodding and replying, "Yeah. That is pretty cool."

Once Shaymin and Melmetal got close to the ring, they entered while the hedgehog blew kisses to the crowd, squealing, "Thank you! Thank you all for coming to see me!" Melmetal rubbing the back of his head.

But it did not end there. Much like the last two teams, Shaymin seemed to have a song prepared for her entrance. However, everyone was rather surprised when rather than making up a song like the others, she cleared her throat and sang, "Up in the galaxy between the Earth and moon is a nation that is super in every single way. We wake up every morning so that we can all work hard to make tomorrow an even brighter day."

Beedrill gasped and immediately held his right stinger up to his chest before signalling Butterfree to do the same. The butterfly rolled her eyes and followed suit with her right hand, Nori feeling strangely obligated to do the same. Sure enough, a few other members of the crowd saw this and did the same thing, Vaporeon and the others shrugging and joining them.

"We live every day to make everything alright," Shaymin continued, "We have one goal in mind, and that's to fight, fight, fight! What is this glorious land, oh, what could it be!? It's the greatest place for you and me! All hail Hero Planet, the greatest in the galaxy!"

The music stopped before everyone gave a standing ovation, one audience member saying, "So that's their national anthem." Beedrill, all the while, released a light tear and nodded his head in approval. While he had mixed feelings toward Shaymin before, now he had gained a lot of respect for her.

After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and stated, "Anyway, in the blue corner are two members of Hero Planet's staff! In fact, they are actually the new advisers! I have not yet seen them in combat, but I imagine they must be pretty impressive to say the least! Give it up for The Time Space Squad!"

"Do two people really make up a squad?" Scorbunny uttered while Vaporeon folded her arms and thought, 'If Shaymin and Melmetal fail, Zeraora and I will definitely take them down.'

Palkia flew into the area with Dialga's shoulders in her arms. She then soared high above the ring and performed a variety of flips before dropping the blue dragon toward the ring. Dialga flipped vertically toward the canvas and landed perfectly against it before Palkia slowly descended herself. The crowd cheered wildly as both dragons grinned and waved to them.

Shaymin frowned and thought, 'Enjoy the attention while it lasts. By the time we're through, you'll wish you never set foot in our time line.'

Melmetal struck a pose as well before Nori stated, "Well, folks, both teams are definitely prepared! Let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Shaymin wasted no time as she had Melmetal form his fingers and lift her up. Everyone gasped when they saw the fingers in question, Gallade uttering, "You know, I was starting to wonder how he can hold things."

The cyborg swung his arm in a circular motion before he released the hedgehog. She curled up into a ball and spun vertically into Dialga's face before she barked, "ROSE BUSH BASEBALL!"

As if that was not enough, Shaymin had formed thorns along her back before she struck, thus this wound up dealing more damage as Dialga growled and backed up. However, after the hedgehog's attack landed, her eyes widened. While the blue dragon had certainly taken in pain, her thorns had not put any cuts in him whatsoever.

Thus he smirked and asked, "Is that really the best you've got?" before Palkia flew toward Shaymin with her arms out.

Melmetal gasped and spat, "I don't think so! HARD KNUCKLE!" before he stretched his arm forward. Palkia's eyes widened when she took a hard punch to her forehead, the crowd even more amazed by Melmetal.

But while this had dealt pain, Melmetal's eye widened when Palkia ignored it, lifted up her arms and took hold of his hand. She then used all her might to lift him over her head and ram his skull into the canvas while the crowd was truly amazed.

"Damn," Butterfree uttered, "Those two are hardcore," Dialga lifting up Shaymin and ramming his knee into her gut as Beedrill stated, "Yeah. Maybe I should make them bodyguards instead."

It did not end there when Dialga hurled Shaymin toward Palkia who smirked while she continued to hold onto Melmetal's hand. She then proceeded to swing him sideways, ramming him into Shaymin before releasing him. This caused both heroes to fly into the ropes, bounce off and land hard against the mat.

"Okay," Melmetal uttered, "These two are even worse than I thought they'd be," Shaymin grunting, "No, it's fine. In our time, I and two others were challenged by a trio of gods for some sort of trial. Their names were Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus. Granted, all three fought us at a fraction of their strength for the sake of fairness, but they were very similar. It took a lot for us to draw even a tiny bit of blood from them, but we did manage to pull it off. We just have to keep trying our hardest against these two. I know we'll see real results soon."

The cyborg took many deep breaths and nodded with a serious look before he pushed himself upright. He then helped Shaymin back up before she said, "Thanks, but I could have done that on my own."

Scorbunny bit her lower lip and whimpered, "Do you think they really stand a chance?" Drizzile replying, "This is Melmetal we're talking about here. I have no doubt they can turn this around."

Machoke blinked and replied, "You seem to know Melmetal an awful lot," Gallade replying, "That's because Drizzile beat him in a fight and turned him to the side of good," Gardevoir smiling at Machoke and giggling, "It's just like what we do all the time."

Dialga smirked at Shaymin and said, "Well, I certainly would have been disappointed if that was enough to defeat you. Even so, you really don't seem to have improved much since our last match. You've managed to hit me once, but that's pretty much it."

The hedgehog frowned, turned to Melmetal and grunted, "Alright, we're gonna have to go all-out against them. I'm willing to bet that punch earlier would have been a lot more effective with spikes, don't you think?" the cyborg blinking and forming a serious look with his eye.

"You're right," he grunted, "Even though this does hurt me a little bit, it's worth it," before barking, "LIQUID METAL PUNCTURE!"

The crowd stared when his liquid churned and vibrated. It then pressed up against his hexagonal nuts and caused spikes to form around them. Dialga and Palkia both stared in stunned silence while more appeared around his shoulders.

"Did you know he could do that?" Gallade uttered before Drizzile nodded and sighed, "He almost beat me with that ability."

Dialga frowned and grunted, "Big deal. We can work around that easily," Palkia nodding before racing forward. But there was no way Melmetal would allow them to keep the upper hand, thus he stretched his right arm forward only for Palkia to dodge the incoming fist. Her eyes widened, though, when he stretched out his left arm and planted the spiked nut into her face.

The crowd was even more intrigued when he formed his fingers again, only this time he sharpened the tips of them and planted them into the purple dragon's head, barking, "LIQUID METAL ICE PICK!" He the spun the nuts around and shouted, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" Palkia biting his lower lip only to cave in and cry out in pain.

Dialga growled and raced toward the cyborg only for Shaymin to leap at him and bark, "Did you forget about little old me!?" taking on her sky form and ramming her ear into his neck, shouting, "SKY CLOTHESLINE!"

While this did not deal a whole lot of damage, it distracted the blue dragon long enough for her to send a roundhouse into his cheek. And while this went on, Melmetal lifted up Palkia and slammed her hard into the canvas.

But just as it seemed like the Metallic Terrors truly had the advantage, Dialga ignored the pain dealt by Shaymin's kick and grabbed her ankle. He hurled her into Melmetal's head, distracting him just long enough for Palkia to plant her claws into the sides of his nuts, pretending the spikes were not there.

Drizzile stared at this in horror and shook his head. What had been so hard for him to pull off seemed like a walk in the park for the purple dragon. And it only got worse when her body turned a dark shade of purple and her claws glowed pink.

Melmetal tensed up when she planted the claws right into his hexagonal nuts, causing blood and oil to spill out while she smirked and stated, "Dialga did a bit of research on you not too long ago. We may not know too much about your skills, but what we do know is that your solid parts are your most vulnerable. All someone has to do is cut them open and you become a much easier opponent."

Beedrill lowered his eyelids and groaned, "That would have been nice to have known sooner," Butterfree sighing, "Tell me about it," only for Nori to protest, "I know you fought them before, but you're supposed to be neutral!"

Palkia flew high above the ring and leaned backward. Then using her wings, she descended at an incredible speed toward the canvas and exclaimed, "SPACIAL SLAM!" ramming Melmetal's skull into the canvas while Dialga bounced off the ropes and sent a flying kick into Shaymin's gut.

The hedgehog fell on her back and slid across the canvas before she took a deep breath and pushed herself up. Melmetal, all the while, implied a frown with his eye and grunted, "Alright, fine, let's see you counter this!" his body once again churning and wobbling before it started to inflate like a balloon. His arms and legs were completely covered, but his head and shoulders were still exposed.

However, his move did not end there as soon enough, protrusions shot out of his entire body, forming rounded spikes all around him. Palkia and Dialga both stared in shock when he exclaimed, "JACK MARBLE!" and rolled toward the purple dragon while also making his body just big enough to hide his head.

But while this seemed ideal at first, Palkia quickly calmed down, smirked and said, "Oh, this is easy," clenching her hand into a fist and sending it forward into him once he got close enough. She had timed and aimed this just perfectly so she would avoid hitting any of the protrusions, but what was even more shocking was that this punch was just powerful enough to send the cyborg careening backward before Dialga lifted up a dazed Shaymin and hurled her right in front of his path.

As soon as the cyborg saw this, he quickly retracted his protrusions and deflated back to normal size, but Shaymin still coughed up a bit of blood when he collided with her. As if that was not enough, he soon fell on his back, crushing the hedgehog under his weight.

"Please tell me I didn't just see what I think I did," Drizzile uttered only for Vaporeon to groan, "It depends, did you just see the same move that defeated your family's greatest defence get, well, defeated?" the chameleon whimpering, "I was afraid of that."

Gallade blinked and said, "So that marble thing almost beat you, and Palkia took care of it like it was nothing," he and Drizzile holding each other and trembling.

Rillaboom frowned and grunted, "Don't forget, if we win our match, we may end up facing those dragons next. They might have beaten Melmetal's move, but they won't beat ours," Aipom nodding and replying, "That's right."

"Still, it's gonna be tough," Blaziken groaned, "I can see why those two defeated Hawlucha and Diancie so easily. Melmetal and Shaymin have both dished out a lot of powerful moves and have shown little results."

Scorbunny, Drizzile and Rillaboom could not help but feel nervous. Much like with Shaymin, they, too, connected it to their fight with Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus.

Melmetal seemed to think the same thing when he rose back to his feet, helped Shaymin up and grunted, "Okay, do you have any ideas at all? Because that bitch just beat my best ability. Seriously, even Drizzile didn't frighten me this much! I'm starting to wonder if I was ever that good of a fighter to begin with!"

"Hey, snap out of it!" Shaymin retorted with a frown, "Luckily for you, I planned for this, therefor it's time to initiate our ultimate team move! You say that spiked marble of yours is your best defence, but I disagree. You have a much better ability that you haven't yet shown them."

Melmetal blinked before he nodded and said, "Yeah, you're right. Let's do it!" the hedgehog grinning before she curled up into a ball and squealed, "THORNY HEDGE!"

Vaporeon's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Why didn't I think of that!? Those two are in trouble now!" Zeraora uttering, "What do you mean?" before Shaymin started to roll along Melmetal's body like a lint roller. Everyone watched in confusion while Nori stated, "And in a shocking display, it seems as if Shaymin is attacking her own partner!"

She then blinked and uttered, "Is she hoping that the Time Space Squad will show mercy on her if she sides with them?" Beedrill and Butterfree both looking at one-another. They knew exactly what Shaymin was doing, but as judges, they could not reveal any team's tactics to their opponents even if they wanted to.

"So, um, wanna fill me in on what's going on here?" Zeraora enquired before Blaziken stroked her chin and said, "I doubt it's what Nori said. If Shaymin really is hellbent on beating Dialga and Palkia, she wouldn't just assault her own partner, would she?"

Drizzile smiled and replied, "Well, you see-" only for Vaporeon to hold up her hand and say, "Don't. If Dialga and Palkia hear you, they might come up with a way around this."

Back in the ring, Palkia stroked her chin and said, "Well, she would make for an okay ally." Dialga, however, narrowed his eyelids before gasping, "Wait, look!" and soon enough, everyone else noticed it. Melmetal had no holes in him nor did he seem to take in any pain from this.

Shaymin blinked and groaned, "Seems they might have caught on," before leaping off of him, "Alright, Melmetal, let them have it before they have a chance to counter!" the cyborg nodding and barking, "LIQUID METAL NAIL GUN!"

He then proceeded to launch his protrusions out of his belly, the majority of the crowd truly stunned when a barrage of Shaymin's thorns shot out of the cyborg. Sure enough, with no time to prepare, Dialga and Palkia stood there and let them all to fly into them. And for the first time in the entire match, both dragons finally started to bleed.

The crowd cheered wildly while Zeraora's jaw dropped, the cat's eyes sparkling as he exclaimed, "That was so cool!" Drizzile nodding with his arms folded and explaining, "This made most of my best moves useless against him when we fought. See, he can absorb sharp objects and launch them out of his body."

Machoke tensed up and uttered, "I'm not sure who I'd hate to face more," Gardevoir giggling, "But he can't use that ability against us," the reptilian replying, "Oh yeah."

Palkia tensed up and uttered, "Okay, I was not prepared for that," before a smirk crossed her face and she chuckled, "But even so, it still barely hurt, eh, Dialga?"

The blue dragon nodded and replied, "Indeed. It was certainly an impressive tactic, but it wasn't good enough," Shaymin and Melmetal both staring in shock.

"You lie!" the hedgehog retorted while her eye twitched, "Look at you! You're both bleeding!" Dialga looking at his arm and saying, "Oh, so we are," Vaporeon tensing up and thinking, 'They didn't even notice? Oh god, can we really stand up to those two?'

Zeraora looked as if he was praying for another team to defeat them if Shaymin and Melmetal failed. Thus the fox chuckled nervously and uttered, "Don't worry, I'm sure they can think of something else."

Unfortunately, Shaymin and Melmetal were at a loss. This was the best tactic they had and it did not have the results they wanted. Even so, the hedgehog frowned and grunted, "Whatever! They're obviously bluffing! We'll just have to hit them harder!"

Melmetal nodded and replied, "Right," Shaymin taking on her sky form and flying toward the dragons while the cyborg stretched his arms out toward them and spun his hexagonal nuts. Dialga simply looked at this and sighed, "You know, this is just sad now. I'm done playing around with them," Palkia nodding and replying, "Yeah, let's end this."

Thus the purple dragon lifted Dialga up by his shoulders and took to the air. She then pointed herself and her partner forward, wrapping her legs around the blue dragon's sides and pointing her claws out while he followed suit. Palkia's skin turned a dark shade of purple and a pink aura covered her claws while a sky blue aura surrounded Dialga. And once they were ready, they both spun like a drill just in time for Melmetal's fists to ram into them and bounce off.

The cyborg's eye was wide with terror when the Space Time Squad sped forward and struck Shaymin mid-flight. This put a large cut on her as she coughed up a large amount of blood, the dragons shouting, "SPACE TIME DRILL!"

Melmetal frowned and stretched his arms forward, this time shifting them sideways and barked, "DOUBLE IRON CRUSH!" But when he sent them inward, the dragons sped up their flight, thus his nuts hit each other before the cyborg took their claws to his face.

Blood and oil spewed out of his head before the assault ended, thus he backed up slightly and fell hard on his back. His eye turned into a big X while Shaymin lay on the mat. Her body twitched as she tried desperately to get up only to lose all strength and pass out.

Nori started a ten count as Beedrill announced everything that just happened. Vaporeon tensed up while Scorbunny whimpered, "This is worse than we thought," Drizzile uttering, "Shaymin said they were really tough, but I didn't think they'd be this bad."

Gallade and Blaziken stared at the two, wondering what the big deal was. Although Machoke and Gardevoir had a feeling that they might have known. After all, they had started to consider the possibility that Dialga and Palkia might be evil, and if this was true, they could not allow them to win the tournament.

Once ten seconds passed, Nori rang the bell and exclaimed, "Melmetal and Shaymin put up a great fight, but our winners are the Time Space Squad!" the area going silent. But after a few seconds, the crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause, truly impressed by Hero Planet's new advisers.

Vaporeon and the others stared in horror when medics came in to carry the Metallic Terrors away on stretchers. The blue fox tried her hardest not to let this get to her while Scorbunny and Drizzile trembled. It was clear that these dragons really were the major threat Shaymin built them up to be.

Rillaboom and Aipom did not even need Beedrill to tell them to get ready. They simply got up from their seats, nodded at one-another and headed off before their friends gave them thumbs up.

Zeraora blinked and uttered, "You think we'll have to fight those dragons at some point?" Vaporeon replying, "I don't think so, not if Rillaboom and Aipom face them in the second round," thinking, 'I hate to admit it, but Rillaboom probably has the best track record out of all of us. Yeah, she'll definitely beat Magnemite and Squirtle and then own Dialga and Palkia's asses.'

Vaporeon had been certain that she would be the one to defeat the dragons if given the chance. Or at the very least, she wanted to. Yet after seeing them in action, she could not help but wonder if she really was the best pick for this. What if she was in over her head?


	19. Chapter 19

Note: Magneron is not Magneton spelled incorrectly. It's a fake name I came up with since Magneton is in Earth's Protectors II. Also, for those who didn't read the first part of this particular instalment, Burstoise is Mega Blastoise.

Once Rillaboom and Aipom had left the area, Shaymin and Melmetal were loaded up onto stretchers and taken away. All the while, Dialga and Palkia exited the ring and headed toward the bleachers.

Scorbunny frowned and thought, 'This is even more serious than we thought,' Drizzile hoping Rillaboom and Aipom could defeat them if they really did advance to round two.

Either way, the crowd applauded the dragons a little bit longer, and when they finally calmed down, Beedrill stated, "Well, folks, it seems as if Rillaboom and Aipom have already headed off to prepare for their match. Hopefully, Squirtle and Magnemite will do the same."

The turtle and slender cyborg stood up and nodded at one-another before they headed off to a training area to prepare their entrance. While they did so, Squirtle turned to her partner and whispered, "Hey, Magnemite, did you find out anything about this Rillaboom?"

"That's a negative," Magnemite replied, "Seriously, I've never heard of her before in my life. If I had to guess, I'd say she's probably a student of Aipom's who she's been training in secret for a moment like this. If that's the case, I can probably deduce a way to defeat her since I do at least know enough about Aipom's fighting style."

Butterfree watched them go and said, "You know, I gotta admit, I'm a little surprised Dialga and Palkia would rather be advisers. They'd make great full-time heroes," Beedrill replying, "I know. Seriously, they're incredible."

During this time, Rillaboom was with Aipom in the back as the monkey asked, "So, you ready for our grand entrance? I gotta admit, after being subjected to Machoke's entrances in the past, I'm kinda relieved you came up with something a little more subdued."

"Yeah," the gorilla replied, "This kind of entrance suits me much better. It's still dramatic enough to get the audience going."

Aipom nodded and said, "You know, I mostly just joined you because you seemed to really want a partner. But I have to admit, I feel like I couldn't have asked for a better ally," Rillaboom grinning and replying, "I hate to say it, but I feel the same," groaning, "Oh man, I just hope the others never find out I said that, especially after how well we've fought together in the past."

"Oh, have you fought in a team match before?" the monkey enquired before Rillaboom explained, "Yeah. The very first time we ever fought a villain, we did it together, all three of us. Yeah, it goes against tradition, but, well, we didn't fight him in a ring. And the last fight we had before this tournament was against three really powerful adversaries."

She would have gone further, but she felt as if it might be wrong to reveal that she and her friends had been challenged by gods. After all, something like that definitely would have been all over the news, and seeing as Aipom and her friends had never heard of their achievements, she would have found that suspicious for sure.

Either way, the monkey smiled and asked, "So, how'd it turn out?" Rillaboom sighing, "It was very tough, but we barely managed to win that match. Well, I'm not sure if you could really call it a true victory since they forfeited. See, for some reason, they were just testing us to see how well we could fight as a team."

Aipom blinked and replied, "Well, that is strange, but I think they made the right call. After how well we fought together three days ago, I'd say you're definitely a team player."

She then gave the gorilla a warm smile and added, "And don't worry if it's a default victory. As far as I'm concerned, a win's a win. As long as everything turns out well in the end, that's all that matters."

Rillaboom smiled sweetly and nodded in understanding. Now any doubt she had before had truly left her. She was certain that she and Aipom could defeat Squirtle and Magnemite, then they would beat Dialga and Palkia for sure. While the gorilla could not reveal her reasons for wanting to beat them out of all the other teams in the tournament, she knew she could count on Aipom to help her.

After ten minutes passed, Butterfree stated, "Well, folks, it's now time for the sixth match to get underway! Just remember that once it's over, we'll have another hour-long break before the seventh match can begin!"

Scorbunny let out a sigh and said, "It's a shame Rolycoly couldn't have been here to make a banner for the two of them," Machoke and the others staring until she explained, "Oh yeah, he's also a professional painter. He makes his own banners and everything," Gardevoir squealing, "That's so cool! We should ask him to make us one when he wakes up!"

Machoke grinned and replied, "Yeah, I'll even pay him!" Zeraora thinking, 'As if these guys aren't amazing enough.'

"In the red corner is a very unexpected team up!" Beedrill stated, "The first member is one everyone thought wouldn't even compete, yet she's here to amaze us with her incredible skills for a second time! Her partner is yet another newcomer, but those who saw her last fight say she's incredible too! Give it up for the Super Simians!"

The crowd was truly amazed when Aipom and Rillaboom rode toward the ring atop a small float. The gorilla was dressed like a drummer in a marching band and beat on a wooden drum that she had carved herself. Aipom, meanwhile, wore a kimono and blew into a bamboo flute, Gallade uttering, "Wow, I never thought Aipom would just agree to an entrance like this."

"Who cares?" Blaziken replied with a grin, "This is adorable!" Vaporeon watching with a serious look in her eyes. Zeraora turned to her with concern, hoping she was okay. After all, she had been so enthusiastic about cheering on her friends up until now.

As much as the fox wanted to cheer, all she could think about was how much she hoped Aipom and Rillaboom would win. She figured at the very least, this would give her a better chance at winning the tournament.

Soon, both simians marched into the ring before bowing to the crowd, a big smile on Nori's face. Out of all the matches, this was one she had looked especially forward to. After all, she remembered when Aipom and Machoke teamed up and how shockingly well the two worked together. She could not wait to see what sorts of moves she and this new fighter would use.

The crowd cheered wildly while Beedrill stated, "And we have another music-themed entrance, though this one did not include vocals. Even so, the crowd certainly seems excited to see what this new ally for Aipom can do."

Butterfree nodded and stated, "Anyway, in the blue corner, we have a familiar duo who has been together since the very start! Even though they haven't won a lot of matches, they have proven themselves to be a great mix of strength and intelligence!" before groaning, "In fact, they came really close to beating both of us in the last tournament."

Nori nudged her, thus she cleared her throat and added, "Anyway, one member has an insanely high IQ and a vast assortment of battle tactics while another has a tough shell! Give a round of applause for the Electric Shells!"

The crowd cheered wildly when Magnemite surfed toward the ring on the back of Squirtle's shell. Once they were close enough, the turtle poked her tail out the back and used it to launch them both into the air. She then retracted her arms and legs and landed on all fours, Magnemite waving to the crowd.

Aipom smiled and said, "You know, I gotta say, I feel honoured to face you in the first round, Magnemite," the cyborg replying, "Same here. It's not often I get someone with an intellect that even comes close to matching mine."

Squirtle blinked and looked back and forth between Aipom and Rillaboom. In a way, their team seemed rather similar to hers, though she could not quite figure out why. But whatever the case, she would certainly do her best to outdo them.

Both teams shook hands before stepping to their own separate sides of the ring, Nori saying, "It's always so nice to see great sportsmanship between opponents. It's clear that at the very least, these fighters certainly respect each other."

Butterfree nodded and added, "But they still must fight, therefor, let's begin!" ringing the bell. Magnemite turned to Squirtle and said, "Let's start with tactic eighty seven. If we can at least catch Aipom off-guard, we can gang up on Rillaboom."

The turtle nodded before she tucked herself into her shell and allowed Magnemite to pick her up. He then pointed his magnets at her and barked, "SUPERSONIC MISSILE!" He released a large shock wave that sent Squirtle toward Aipom, but just as it looked like the monkey would take in the hit, Rillaboom transformed her leaves into barrels and shifted her arm in front of her.

Magnemite's eye widened as he thought, 'That must be her grass type ability,' Squirtle ramming into the barrel. And while this dealt some slight pain to Rillaboom's arm, the barrel softened the blow significantly. Thus she smirked, ignored the pain and swung her arm forward. This caused the turtle to fly backward into a spellbound Magnemite's face.

He gasped in pain and fell hard on his back while the crowd cheered wildly. Squirtle retracted from her shell after she landed and gasped, "Oh my god, Magnemite! I'm so sorry!" the cyborg slowly rising to his feet and panting, "It's fine. Neither of us could have predicted that."

Even Aipom was truly amazed as she squealed, "That was awesome!" the crowd cheering wildly before one said, "Wow, she is good," Scorbunny and Drizzile folding their arms with confident smiles.

'Of course,' Vaporeon thought with a big smile, 'There's a reason Rillaboom has the least number of losses out of all of us. She's incredible, a perfect mix of powerful and strategic. Only she could have pulled that off without a second thought.'

Rillaboom shook her hand briefly before a grin formed on her face. She then turned to Aipom and said, "Well, I got my first hit in. What say you get yours, eh?"

Aipom nodded and squealed, "Hell yeah!" latching her tail onto the Rillaboom's left barrel. The gorilla proceeded to swing her arm around, causing Aipom to spin around it before releasing her hold. This allowed her to fly toward Magnemite who implied a frown with his eye and grunted, "Squirtle, tactic seven, now!"

The turtle leapt up in front of him and tucked herself into her shell only for Aipom to spin vertically with her tail hand balled up into a fist. Once she was close enough, she managed to extend her tail just far enough to ram the fist into Magnemite's skull as she squealed, "TAIL HAMMER!"

Magnemite's eye went wide as a light tear dripped from it. Squirtle gasped and was about to ask if he was okay until he grunted, "Tactic eleven!" The turtle nodded with a serious look and took hold of Aipom's tail. However, the monkey was more than ready for this, thus she lifted herself into the air and swung downward, planting her feet into Squirtle's forehead.

The crowd went wild as Squirtle backed up into Magnemite and caused him to fall down with her. Drizzile blinked and uttered, "You know, I think I'm starting to realize why these two had significantly more losses than victories on their record," Scorbunny replying, "Yeah, I thought Magnemite was supposed to be a tactical genius. Magnezone and Burstoise are much better than these two."

"Magnezone?" Machoke uttered before Blaziken added, "And Burstoise?" Scorbunny and Drizzile covering their mouths. However, Raboot simply blinked and said, "Oh, you must mean their parents, Blastoise and Magneron."

Scorbunny blinked and uttered, "Yeah, of course," all the while feeling ashamed of herself for having forgotten that Magnezone and Burstoise had not been born in this time line.

Strangely enough, this had actually helped Vaporeon completely snap out of her trance earlier as she glared at the rabbit and chameleon. She then took a deep breath and said, "Right, I should be cheering for Rillaboom right now," Zeraora smiling and saying, "I'm glad to hear you say that. I was starting to worry."

"Well, yeah," the fox replied with a light grin, "It's just, after seeing how tough Dialga and Palkia are, I got a little nervous about the idea of facing them. But I have a feeling we might not end up facing them anyway, and even if we do, we can beat them."

Zeraora beamed bright and said, "And I'll do my best to make sure we do," their friends all smiling sweetly at them before turning back to the ring and tensing up.

During their conversation, it seemed that Magnemite and Squirtle had gotten the drop on Rillaboom and Aipom. The cyborg had latched onto the gorilla from the front while the turtle struck the monkey in the face with her tail.

The cyborg shifted his magnets backward and exclaimed, "SONIC BOOM!" before releasing shock waves and blasting himself forward while Squirtle leapt behind Aipom and kicked her forward. As such, both Super Simians collided with each other and grunted in pain, the monkey flying toward Squirtle who swung her tail into her back and knocked her on her face.

Many members of the crowd cheered for the Electric Shells as Magnemite continued to hold onto Rillaboom. Only this time he aimed his magnets downward and launched himself into the air. He then flipped the gorilla upside-down, wrapped his legs around her neck and aimed his magnets upward.

"MAGNET BOMB!" he barked before releasing more shock waves and falling toward the mat. Sure enough, the gorilla's skull hit the surface hard as she gritted her teeth, her eyes wide.

The gorilla's friends watched in horror only for Vaporeon to frown and bark, "Come on, Rillaboom! You are so much better than this! Where's that awesome fighter who defeated an opponent who was much faster than her after succumbing to so much damage!? Where's that badass who bested a powerful villain after I failed to do so!? And how about the time you kicked a dinosaur's ass!?"

Machoke blinked and uttered, "Did she really do all of that?" the others nodding before Gallade said, "Wow, I wish all of that had been recorded. I'd love to watch those matches online."

Raboot was equally intrigued, though it shocked him that none of this had been recorded. As such, he stroked his chin and eyed Scorbunny. Could it be that he had figured out who she really was?

Either way, when Rillaboom heard this, a smirk formed on her face as she grunted, "She's still here," taking hold of Magnemite's arms before big thorns formed around her barrels and dug into him. Thus his eye widened as she barked, "THORN BARREL REVERSAL!"

She then used all her might to flip herself over, planting the back of Magnemite's head into the canvas. When Aipom saw this, she grinned and used her tail hand to latch onto Squirtle's ankle. She then lifted her up and hurled her toward Rillaboom before she squealed, "Incoming!"

The gorilla grinned and rammed her fist hard into the turtle's face before she had time to react. Thus she groaned in pain and fell on the back of her shell, the crowd ecstatic now.

Rillaboom took many deep breaths and faced Vaporeon in the crowd. A big smile formed on her face while she thought, 'Thank you, Vaporeon. I needed that.'

All the while, the fox had a smile of her own as her mind added, 'It's not just about me. We're all in this together. I still wanna make it to the top, but I don't want my friends to lose to anyone else either.'

Squirtle waved her arms and legs around before blinking and uttering, "Wait, I've never had a problem with this," using her tail to push herself back up. Magnemite also rose to his feet and thought, 'This is rather strange. While Aipom has come up with a couple of good strategies, she's done them on her own. Everything Rillaboom has done she planned in advance. So not only is she tougher than Aipom, but she might be just as smart in combat whereas Squirtle almost always needs my advice.'

It was at that moment he narrowed his eyelids and his mind added, 'Now that I know this, I might be able to come up with some better strategies. There's no way I'll let this get us down.'

With that in mind, he faced Squirtle, narrowed his eye and held up nine fingers followed by four. The turtle nodded with a smile before she noticed Rillaboom reach for her. Thus she used her tail to launch herself into the air and tucked herself into her shell. She then descended hard into the gorilla's skull and barked, "SHELL METEORITE!"

Rillaboom pursed her lips and widened her eyes before Squirtle propelled herself back into the air and squealed, "SHELL METEOR SHOWER!" striking the gorilla in the skull again, Magnemite thinking, 'That's right. As long as she stays away from those wrist barrels, she'll be fine.'

He noticed Aipom leap up to help Rillaboom, thus he pointed his magnets backward and launched himself toward her, shouting, "SONIC BOOM!" Sure enough, just before Aipom had a chance to strike Squirtle, the cyborg rammed his arm into the back of her head.

He did not let it end there as while she descended, he latched his legs onto her neck and threw them downward. This allowed him to slam her skull into the canvas even harder than if he had just allowed her to fall. He then latched onto her tail with his right hand and wrapped his arm around her legs, pulling back and explaining, "Admittedly, I don't rely on submission moves an awful lot. I'm not exactly strong enough to make them work, but luckily, you're not the usual opponent that I get."

However, just as it seemed like the Electric Shells had this in the bag, Rillaboom smirked and said, "Not bad, but you're gonna have to try better than that," leaning forward. Most of the crowd was shocked when her hair sharpened and caught Squirtle's shell in its grasp.

"ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" the gorilla grunted before she stood upright and flung her hair backward. This allowed her to launch Squirtle toward Magnemite, the cyborg unable to respond in time to avoid taking her shell to the face for the second time.

He slowly closed his eye, released Aipom and fell hard on his back while the crowd cheered wildly for Rillaboom. Thus the monkey flipped herself back onto her feet and breathed a sigh of relief, giving her partner her tail thumb up.

Squirtle retracted from her shell and gasped, "Magnemite, are you okay!?" the cyborg's eye not opening. Thus she tensed up, breathed heavily and thought, 'Oh no, what do I do? Whenever we go down, we go down together, but he went down first without me!'

Aipom realized she needed to take advantage of this, thus she placed her tail against the turtle's head and said, "Sorry to do this, but I wanna win," hurling her backward toward Rillaboom who spread out her arms. But just as Squirtle was close enough, she tucked herself into her shell before the gorilla clapped her hands together. But while her initial goal was to strike the turtle's cheeks, Rillaboom was prepared for this outcome, thus she cupped her hands together and swung them downward into the shell, knocking it downward into the canvas.

While the shell spun, everyone watched in silence until Squirtle emerged with her eyes spinning. When Rillaboom saw this, she smirked and formed a hammerhead around her hand, barking, "WOOD HAMMER!"

But just as she was about to ram it into the Squirtle's head, everyone gasped when the turtle suddenly squeezed herself out of her shell, Rillaboom's hammerhead striking the mat instead. Her eyes went wide when the turtle grabbed hold of the shell, moved it away from the arm and leapt into the air, barking, "TIME FOR TACTIC NUMBER FIVE HUNDRED AND ONE, SHELLIKEN!"

She then hurled the shell like a frisbee into Rillaboom's face and caused blood to squirt out of her nostrils. The shell bounced off and returned to Squirtle before she thought, 'I didn't know it could do that.'

Aipom bit her lower lip before Squirtle yelled, "And now, tactic five hundred and two, SHELL CURLING ROCK!" and slid it toward Aipom. The monkey saw this coming and leapt over it only for Squirtle to leap toward her and ram her skull into her gut, shouting, "SKULL BASH!"

Aipom coughed up a bit of blood and flipped backward before Squirtle grabbed hold of her tail, lifted her up and hurled her back-first into the canvas. Many members of the crowd cheered wildly for Squirtle while Butterfree exclaimed, "And in a shocking turn of events, Squirtle starts really holding her own while Magnemite is unconscious!"

Vaporeon bit her lower lip as the others watched with concern, Gallade uttering, "Damn, that's actually kind of impressive. I want Aipom and Rillaboom to win, but I can't help but be amazed."

Squirtle's shell bounced off the bottom rope and returned to her before she picked it back up and thought, 'Don't worry, Magnemite. I'll keep them busy, but I'll try to let you get a bit more of the action. Even so, I gotta take at least one of them out.'

Aipom bit her lower lip and tensed up, thinking, 'I've never seen her fight like this. I'm not sure what to do,' only for Rillaboom to grin and race toward Squirtle. However, for some reason, her form was off. She looked unprepared for this, and it showed when the turtle grinned and hurled her shell right into the gorilla's gut.

However, Squirtle's eyes and mouth went wide when Rillaboom said, "Hook, line and sinker," and took hold of the shell before it could ricochet off of her. Aipom nodded with a smile and thought, 'Of course she took that on purpose,' before leaping toward the now shell-less Squirtle and spinning around, ramming her tail hand into her back.

Machoke grinned and stated, "Rillaboom's amazing! I just suggested Aipom team up with her so she could have a partner, but man, she's the perfect ally!" Gardevoir giggling, "Oh, I'm pretty sure you were better than her."

Either way, Squirtle was now flat on her face while she thought, 'No, I have to do this,' slowly pushing herself up only for Rillaboom to hurl her shell toward her. Thus Squirtle's eyes widened as her mind added, 'Shelly, how could you?' taking the object to her face.

This left her completely vulnerable only for Magnemite to finally open his eye and bolt upright, gasping, "I'm up!" watching a naked Squirtle struggle to stay on her feet. He stared at this and thought, 'What the hell happened?'

But when he saw a bruise on Rillaboom's snout, he blinked and thought, 'She did that much damage without my advice? I'm impressed,' but this moment would not last long when Aipom leapt over to Rillaboom who whipped out her hair vine and latched it to her tail. With that, the monkey leaned forward and grabbed hold of the gorilla's ankle before both formed a wheel.

Rillaboom sharpened her hair again as she and Aipom exclaimed, "ROSE BUSH MONKEY BOULDER!" Aipom's tail fist sticking out of the wheel. Sure enough, Squirtle was unable to regain focus in time to avoid having both ram into her. And it was not long until Magnemite fell victim to the move as well.

Blood and oil spewed out of him while he whimpered, "I should have stayed down," before he and Squirtle fell hard on their backs.

Nori started the ten count while Beedrill stated, "And along with Rillaboom's help, Aipom pulls off an even more powerful version of a move she and Machoke used all those years ago! Can the Electric Shells recover from that!?"

It seemed that was not the case when Nori reached ten seconds and rang the bell, exclaiming, "And our winners are the Super Simians!" the crowd going wild, Rillaboom holding her fist high in the air with a grin on her face.

She then turned toward Dialga and Palkia with a serious look while the blue dragon said, "Not bad. I'll admit, that Rillaboom could be a problem, but Aipom doesn't seem all that great."

Palkia nodded and replied, "Yeah. She has a weak body. If we can take her down first, Rillaboom will be easy pickings."

Dialga stared briefly at the purple dragon before he said, "Well, how very perceptive of you. That was exactly what I was thinking."

Aipom clenched her tail hand into a fist before pounding it against Rillaboom's. Just like their previous match, she felt like she had picked the perfect partner for this tournament. A part of her even believed that she might just be able to claim Machoke's championship title from him by the end of this.

After a few seconds, Squirtle slowly opened her eyes and groaned, "Sorry, Magnemite," only for the cyborg to open his half way and reply, "No need to apologize. Even though I wasn't awake to see it, I can tell you did a really good job by yourself. I can't help but wonder if I should give you more chances to think up your own strategies."

Squirtle's eyes sparkled before she and the cyborg fell asleep and were taken away on stretchers. Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "I hope they recover soon. I didn't actually mean to deal that much damage to them," Aipom sighing, "I'm sure they'll be fine."

With this match out of the way, Beedrill announced an hour-long break until the next match. And while these ones would likely not be quite as intense as the fifth one, everyone had been looking forward to these two in particular. After all, the seventh match would feature Lucario while the final one had Machoke and Gardevoir, and all three were the favourites to win the entire tournament.


	20. Chapter 20

While Shaymin and Melmetal's loss to Dialga and Palkia had lowered everyone's spirits at first, Rillaboom and Aipom's victory lifted them for the time. As such, the group was much more positive during their hour-long break. Although much like Aipom and Rillaboom, Machoke and Gardevoir headed to a secluded area to prepare for their match.

Since Aipom and Rillaboom had not had lunch with the others, the monkey enjoyed a banana split in the lobby while the gorilla had a burger and fries. After she took a bite of her sandwich, she looked over at Aipom and enquired, "Shouldn't you have something healthy after all of that?"

"Come on, this is a victory celebration," Aipom remarked, "I think I've earned the right to indulge a little. Besides, it's not like a burger and fries are that much better for you."

Rillaboom held up a finger and opened her mouth before she uttered, "Okay, you have a point there," Scorbunny chuckling, "You've both earned this. It's a shame Rolycoly and Morgrem can't join us, but we'll all do the best we can for their sake. Well, them and Melmetal and Shaymin."

Vaporeon nodded before she noticed Dialga and Palkia purchasing themselves gyudon from a nearby food stand. The purple dragon took a bite and said, "I'll give the humans this. They sure can make a mean rice bowl," only for the blue dragon to reply, "Eh, I've had better."

The fox narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'You'd better brace yourselves. If Rillaboom fails to defeat you, you can guarantee we will in the finals, assuming Machoke and Gardevoir don't get you first,' Zeraora smiling when he saw how determined she was.

All the while, Lucario and Clauncher were busy getting ready, the pistol shrimp gulping down some noodles and shrimp while the dog stared at her. He then took a deep breath and thought, 'Come on, you've seen her eat fish and chips multiple times. Is this really worth questioning?'

Once Clauncher finished her meal, she let out a light burp and chuckled, "Excuse me," before asking, "So, we're really gonna go with my entrance? Because I'm okay doing things your way again."

"No way," Lucario replied with a grin, "You were the one who helped me realize I was fit to be a hero. It's the least I can do. Besides, if entrances like these can work for Machoke, maybe they can help me."

Clauncher snickered only for Lucario to retort, "What's that supposed to mean?" the shrimp chuckling, "I'm sorry. It's just, you spent so much time trying to one-up Machoke and now you're looking to him for inspiration. That's funny to me," the dog lowering his eyelids.

He then resumed his training and thought, 'Still, she's right. While Machoke may have lost to me in the Hero Olympics, he really has become something else entirely. I missed my chance to face him in the last Ultimate World Team Tournament, but I won't waste this one.'

Meanwhile, Machoke and Gardevoir were at it, but rather than training, the two were in the midst of preparing their entrance. The reptilian looked over the blueprints and said, "So I was thinking since Alcremie totally beat us to the cake idea, maybe we could have a giant pie."

Gardevoir giggled, "I like it, but I don't think that really works all that well," before gasping, "Oh, I know! Let's have something that pays tribute to all of our friends!"

Machoke stroked his chin and said, "It'll require a lot of people, but since Lucario's match is first, we'll get a lot more time to set it up. Yeah, let's do it," Gardevoir clapping and squealing.

He then took a deep breath and sighed, "Maybe we should train, though. I mean, you and I both know how tough Scrafty and Bisharp are, but also, again, if we win the first two rounds, we might have to face Palkia and Dialga."

"And if Shaymin was right and they really are evil, we can't lose," Gardevoir added with a sad look in her eyes, "You know, as much as I like fighting evil, I was really hoping this would just be a fun tournament without any major drama for once. And yet not only have a few of our friends already been hospitalized, but we might have two villains in the tournament."

Machoke nodded and smiled before he replied, "Well, I've already beaten five villains who snuck into tournaments for heroes in the past. What's another couple, eh?" Gardevoir giggling, "And I'll be here to help you again, just like when we fought Hoopa!"

The reptilian chuckled and kissed his wife on the cheek before the two set up a couple of punching bags to work on their technique. After all, while each had defeated one of their opponents in the past, it did not guarantee victory.

Once the hour was up, everyone was assembled in the stadium where Beedrill sat behind his podium with Butterfree and Nori and stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, we are just about ready for the next match to begin! This is one of the most highly anticipated matches of today! After all, Lucario lost the first round of this very tournament four years ago and now everyone wants to see if he and his partner can make a true comeback today!"

All the while, a young woman with long brown hair and freckles named Amanda sat in the middle row with a big grin on her face, thinking, 'Thank you, Mother, for letting me attend this. Now I can see my big brother kick ass without being driven by petty revenge.'

As it so happened, Amanda was Lucario's sister. And seated next to her was a slightly older woman with long silver hair named Veronica. She currently wore a T-shirt with Lucario's face on it and a foam finger on her left hand, saying, "I can't wait to see my darling win."

Amanda nodded and chuckled, "Yeah, and when he wins, we can all go out to celebrate, eh!?" Veronica replying, "Hell yeah! I think I saw a really nice fancy restaurant nearby!"

Veronica was actually Lucario's girlfriend, or more specifically, his fiance. He had proposed to her just a couple of months ago, so she currently had her engagement ring on. Needless to say, she and Amanda could not refuse this opportunity to see the dog fight in person.

Nori smiled and stated, "In the red corner, we have two former villains who once worked under the mighty Missingno back in the day but now fight for good! One is a ghostly sword with incredible skill and the other is a shocking zebra who, while a tad over dramatic, can really pack a punch! Introducing the Thunder Blades!"

The crowd clapped but stopped when Blitzle entered the area carrying a long black box and wearing a traditional black Japanese swordsman outfit. When he approached the ring, he set the box down and opened it to reveal a sword with a single eyeball inside of it with her arms crossed. She then opened her eye and rose up before leaping out of the box with her arms raised, the crowd cheering.

Blaziken looked Aegislash over and sighed, "You know, if I knew she'd turn to the side of good, I probably wouldn't have broken her shield," Gardevoir patting her on the shoulder with a light chuckle.

Beedrill noticed the crowd calm down before he exclaimed, "And in the blue corner is probably the second most popular team to have advanced past the elimination round! One is the world Olympic champion! And his partner is a crustacean who is much, much stronger than her size would lead you to believe! Having proven themselves quite the team four years ago, the Fancy Fighters!"

Machoke lowered his eyelids and sighed, "They're still calling themselves that," only for Gallade to shrug and reply, "I dunno. I'm starting to warm up to it."

In the past, Lucario had always opted for a standard entrance, never truly going over-the-top. So needless to say, everyone was beyond surprised when he and Clauncher rode toward the ring on the back of a Hawaiian themed float with the dog dressed in a fitting outfit for the setup playing an ukulele while Clauncher blew into a flute.

"Seriously, it's like at least one team has to have a music-themed entrance now," Butterfree uttered, Nori shrugging and replying, "I actually like it. It adds a nice bit of spice to this whole thing."

Once the two were close to the ring, Lucario leapt into the air, threw off his shirt and landed firmly against the mat. He then held out his hand to catch Clauncher who had flipped herself upside down and pointed her big claw downward. The crowd clapped when she balanced perfectly atop the dog's finger and flipped off of it.

Blitzle clapped with a big smile and exclaimed, "Wow! Good show! Very good show!" before looking down and groaning, "You're not still mad at me for trapping you in an electric cage, are you?"

Lucario folded his arms and sighed, "I learned a long time ago it's best not to hold onto petty grudges. I'm just glad to know someone as strong as you is on the side of good now."

The zebra's cheeks turned bright pink before he let down light tears and sniffed, "Oh, my, I don't know what to say!" approaching the dog, bending down on one knee and adding, "It warms the cockles of my heart to hear you give me such praise, good sir!" Veronica retorting, "HEY, BACK OFF, HE'S MINE!"

Blitzle blinked and stared at the woman until Aegislash sighed, "Just get over here. We have a match, remember?" the zebra making his way back over to the sword and uttering, "Right, of course. I don't know what came over me."

Blaziken snickered and said, "He's just as awkward as I remember," Drizzile saying, "I'd have trouble believing he was a legitimate threat to you back in the day if I wasn't once more awkward myself."

Either way, both teams were ready, Veronica folding her arms as Amanda sighed, "He was just showing gratitude," the silver-haired woman grumbling, "I know. I just get a little jealous. You know how long it took me to convince my parents that he's a good guy, right?"

"Both teams are set," Beedrill stated, "Now let us begin!" before he rang the bell with his right stinger, Nori staring at him with her jaw dropped and her eyes wide open.

Lucario immediately raced toward Aegislash and sent a flying roundhouse into her face before a bright aura surrounded his right hand. He then rammed it into the same spot and spat, "FORCE PALM!" causing her to wince and back up.

Blitzle sped in to help only for Clauncher roll up into a ball, leap backward into the ropes and bounce off. She then rammed hard into his chest while the crowd went wild. Afterwards, she wrapped her arms around him, leapt into the air and leaned backward, planting his upper back into the canvas.

Meanwhile, Lucario dealt an axe kick to Aegislash's midsection as the crowd went wild, Nori exclaiming, "And the Fancy Fighters are off to an amazing start! They don't even give the Thunder Blades a chance to react as they go all-out! And much like before, it really is incredible how easily Clauncher can back drop someone that much bigger than her!"

As if the Fancy Fighters did not already have a big advantage, things only got better when Clauncher lifted Blitzle by his head and held him upside-down. Lucario did the same with Aegislash before he and his partner shouted, "DOUBLE BRAINBUSTER!" and leaned backward, planting the backs of their opponents' heads into the canvas.

Machoke grinned and exclaimed, "Way to go! You're just as awesome as ever, Lucario!" Aipom nodding and replying, "Yep. Let's just hope Aegislash and Blitzle won't get the upper hand."

Sure enough, Aegislash rose back to her sword tip and sighed, "Okay, Lucario's fighting about as well as I figured he would," Blitzle whimpering, "And that Clauncher really is stronger than she looks. Can we really do this?"

The sword nodded and replied, "Of course we can. We just need to dish out some impressive moves of our own."

Blitzle nodded and took hold of Aegislash's handle. He then reeled his arm back and flung her toward the Fancy Fighters while a dark aura surrounded her blade and she exclaimed, "SACRED PINWHEEL!"

Clauncher managed to duck under the incoming strike due to her short height, but Lucario took the slash to his gut and winced in pain while blood flew out. Aegislash then sent a karate chop into his forehead. But just as Clauncher was about to help out, Blitzle went down on all fours and raced toward her with sparks flying around the tip of his mane.

"WILD CHARGE!" he exclaimed before ramming it into her back. Electricity coursed through the shrimp's veins as the zebra progressed forward and rammed her belly into the turnbuckle.

Veronica pulled on the sides of her hair and whimpered, "Come on, that can't be it!" only for Amanda to sigh, "I've seen him deal with way worse. He'll turn this around," the silver-haired woman nodding and replying, "Yeah, you're right. I should know better than to underestimate my darling."

Sure enough, Lucario ignored the pain and lifted up his hands, grabbing hold of Aegislash's wrists. Her eye went wide when he planted a knee kick into her midsection and delivered another Force Palm to her face. All the while, Clauncher increased the size of her big claw and leaned backward, planting it into Blitzle's skull and barking, "CRABHAMMER!"

However, she was shocked when he refused to let go and wrapped his arms around her. He then leapt backward and aimed her toward Lucario, the dog's eyes wide with shock when the shrimp was slammed into his cheek.

This distracted him just long enough for Aegislash to take hold of his wrists and shout, "SACRED SWORD!" A dark aura once again surrounded her blade as she swung it upward and across his torso, blood spewing out.

The crowd gasped, Blaziken sighing, "Yep, even without her shield, she's still a major threat," before Blitzle leapt into the air one last time and barked, "LIGHTNING STAMPEDE!" ramming Clauncher's belly into the mat.

The shrimp coughed up a bit of blue blood before Blitzle finally removed his mane from her back and breathed heavily with a big smile. He then turned to Aegislash and uttered, "Wow, we're actually winning."

"Yes, indeed," the sword replied, "Still, though, I have no doubt that was not enough to finish them off," thus the zebra nodded and picked her up by her handle, flipping her upside-down. He then sent electricity through her body and shouted, "THUNDER SWORD!"

Just as they suspected, Lucario and Clauncher rose to their feet while Veronica breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I know Lucario's great and all, but does he have to cut it so close?" Amanda replying, "When you see as many of his matches as I do, you get used to it."

"While things looked really well for the Fancy Fighters at first, things seem to have taken a turn in the Thunder Blades' favour," Butterfree stated, "As someone who once fought alongside them, I can tell you, Lucario and Clauncher will certainly need to watch themselves. That Thunder Sword ability is nothing to scoff at. Hell, those two actually cut off Sawk's hand with that ability."

The blue martial artist sat in the crowd with a look of discomfort. He folded his arms and looked at some stitching on his right wrist while Throh patted him on the shoulder reassuringly.

However, Lucario was not the least bit worried as a blue aura suddenly surrounded him. He then grinned at Clauncher who nodded and allowed him to lift her up by her tail. He then held her forward and exclaimed, "CRUSTACEAN LANCE!"

Blitzle frowned and raced toward Lucario with Aegislash at the ready. But just as he was about to swing her into his side, the dog pointed Clauncher forward and planted the tip of her big claw into the zebra's gut. The crowd cheered wildly when Blitzle winced in pain and tried his hardest not to release his hold on Aegislash.

However, it did not end there when Lucario held Clauncher up above his head. She once again expanded the size of her claw considerably before the dog swung her downward into Blitzle's skull, both of them barking, "CRAB GAVEL!"

Blitzle's teeth gritted and his eyes went wide before he dropped Aegislash. The sword had seen this coming, thus she used her hand to push herself back up. She then took a deep breath and patted Blitzle on the shoulder, asking, "Are you alright?"

The zebra's eyes spun while he groaned, "But Mommy, I don't wanna ride the Merry-Go-Round anymore," Aegislash taking a deep breath and smacking him on the cheek. Thus he placed his hoof against it and barked, "The hell was that for!?"

"Excellent," Aegislash said with her arms folded, "You seem to be in good health now," Blitzle about to retort before gasping, "My word! You broke me out of my trance!" holding onto her hands and saying, "Aegislash, you are a true friend!"

The sword turned pink briefly before she sighed, "Now isn't the time," before noticing Lucario standing there and asking, "Are you finished?"

Aegislash and Blitzle stared in shock until Clauncher said, "We didn't wanna interrupt your sweet moment there," the zebra's eyes sparkling as he squealed, "You guys are such good sports!"

"You know, I'm having trouble taking this fight seriously," Drizzile uttered, Vaporeon sighing, "I know what you mean," only for Zeraora to reply, "Well, both teams have shown amazing skill up until now. I still see a bit of tension there."

Either way, Aegislash and Blitzle realized they would need to kick things up a notch if they were to come out on top. As such, the sword stated, "As much as I don't like the idea behind this move, we might need to try this."

The zebra gasped, "You mean that move!?" Aegislash sighing, "Yes. Just don't bite too hard, okay?"

Blitzle nodded and bit into Aegislash's handle before he pointed her forward and sent electricity through her veins. He then raced toward Lucario and grunted, "SACRED JOUST!" the crowd gasping when he managed to drive Aegislash's blade into the dog's gut.

But while Lucario showed signs of pain at first, her smirked and said, "Not bad, but not good enough," before placing a grip against the sword's handle. But rather than trying to pry her out, he kept her lodged inside of him, and while everyone was confused at first, that stopped when Aipom gasped, "Oh my god, that's both brilliant and super risky at the same time!"

While her wording was vague, it did not take long for most of the others to figure out what she meant. And all became clear when Clauncher leapt into the air, expanded her big claw one last time and sent it downward into Blitzle's snout and Aegislash's handle.

"CRABHAMMER!" she exclaimed while both took in extreme pain. Blitzle released his hold on Aegislash, thus Lucario now felt the need to pry her out of his gut before he leapt into the air and wrapped his legs around the end of her blade. He somehow managed to position his legs in a way that prevented him from cutting himself before he flipped a full three hundred and sixty degrees and sent her soaring toward the canvas.

Clauncher saw this, leapt up to Aegislash's level and wrapped her claws around her handle, causing her to descend faster before the back of her head hit the mat, the shrimp and Lucario shouting, "FULL MOON SLAM!"

Aegislash lay there with her eye closed while Blitzle tensed up and trembled. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath and growled, "Alright, that's it, you will pay dearly!" racing toward them with sparks surrounding him and barking, "WILD CHARGE!"

His eyes went wide when Lucario lifted up Clauncher, had her expand her big claw and rammed it into the zebra's skull. Blitzle released one last bit of blood from his mouth and passed out, he and Aegislash out for ten seconds before Nori rang the bell.

"The match has certainly been back and forth, but in the end, The Fancy Fighters have come out on top!" Beedrill exclaimed before the crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause, Amanda and Veronica both hugging one-another and squealing, "WAY TO GO, LUCARIO!"

Talonflame and Tsuya also cheered for this from the back row, the falcon exclaiming, "I knew there was no way he'd lose to those two! Hoopa and Diancie I can forgive to a certain degree, but not those two!" only for the white-haired woman to laugh, "Come on, you would have accepted this one too!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, sweetie," Talonflame retorted with his arms crossed as Tsuya kissed him on the cheek.

Machoke and the others gave a round of applause, the reptilian exclaiming, "Alright! Now we'll win our match and face you in the next round for sure!" Gardevoir nodding and squealing, "Just you wait! We'll put you in your place!"

Lucario smiled at Machoke and Gardevoir while Clauncher waved at them. She certainly looked forward to this herself, as did the others. Zeraora especially could not contain his excitement. He had at least seen Machoke and Gardevoir in combat on TV before, so this was certainly a big deal.

Bisharp and Scrafty got up from their seats and headed off to prepare before Machoke and Gardevoir did the same, all four heading off while Beedrill stated, "And it would seem our next two teams are ahead of the game, but yes, in ten minutes, we will soon witness the number one most highly anticipated match of the day! So don't go anywhere, folks!"

At that moment, Lucario looked at his opponents while they were loaded up onto stretchers, asking, "Excuse me, do you know how long they'll be out for?" one of the medics replying, "You don't seem to have taken things too far, so they should be back in commission soon enough."

The dog breathed a sigh of relief before he and Clauncher headed to the bleachers. And while they had seats reserved for them in the front row, they had agreed to trade their spots with a couple of humans so the dog could sit between his sister and fiance. Thus he joined them in the crowd and took a seat before Veronica held his arm and kissed his cheek while Amanda slugged him and Clauncher on their shoulders.

Palkia, all the while, turned to Dialga and enquired, "So, you think those two might be a problem?" the blue dragon replying, "Well, I can see how Lucario got his strong reputation, and that aura I saw earlier could be a problem. But I'm sure we can handle that easily enough. If anything, I'm more interested in Machoke and Gardevoir."

He watched the couple exit the stadium to head to a training area, thinking, 'I hope you two make it to the semi-finals. Once we defeat you two, the whole world will fear us for sure.'


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: The song Gardevoir sings is based off of Suguru's theme from Kinnikuman.

Everyone waited in anticipation for Machoke and Gardevoir's match with Bisharp and Scrafty to begin. After all, out of all the day's matches, this was the one everyone looked the most forward to. Four years ago, everyone witnessed the couple become the world tag team champions, though due to various circumstances, they had only seen them fight together in one match. In fact, many hoped this would be the first time Machoke could get through a team tournament without having to replace his partner every single round.

Aipom grinned and squealed, "I just know those two will win!" sighing, "It feels like just yesterday I was training Machoke and giving advice from the sidelines. Now he doesn't need my help anymore."

"Yeah, because you did such a good job," Rillaboom replied only for the monkey to shrug her shoulders and state, "Actually, he came up with a lot of his best strategies on his own."

Scorbunny, Drizzile and Vaporeon could not wait for this. While they knew of the strong reputation of The Glamourous Fighting Machines, they had only seen a few video recordings of their matches. Now they got to witness the duo fight in person, and in their prime no less.

Once the ten minutes were up, Beedrill exclaimed, "Alright, folks, it's finally time for the most highly anticipated match of the first round! It's been a long wait, but I'm sure it'll be worth it!"

Butterfree nodded and stated, "In the red corner, we have the champions of our last Ultimate World Team Tournament! Time and time again, they have won the most matches in Tokyo and have truly made a name for themselves! Give it up for the Glamourous Fighting Machines!"

The crowd went wild when Machoke and Gardevoir rode toward the ring on the back of a huge float with something to represent each of their friends. There were flames for Blaziken and Scorbunny, swords for Gallade and Drizzile, bananas for Aipom and Rillaboom and a motorcycle for Morgrem and Rolycoly. Sure, those two were not exactly awake to see this, but it would have felt wrong to leave them out.

Machoke and Gardevoir themselves wore bright flashy outfits while the white woman held up a microphone and sang, "Never give up! That is the way of the hero! Never give up! Even when things look their worst!"

The crowd cheered wildly while Nori exclaimed, "And we get another musical treat as Gardevoir has chosen to bless us with her wonderful singing voice!" all the while thinking, 'A Machoke entrance and a performance by Gardevoir. This is exactly what I was hoping for.'

Gallade grinned and whistled before he shouted, "Keep it up, sis!" Zeraora saying, "Even though I heard her sing at this club, this is still incredible."

Once the song reached the home stretch, Gardevoir belted, "With power so wonderful, he will always come above all odds! He's the super awesome fighter, the great Machoke!"

She and Machoke leapt into the ring before striking a pose and ripping off their flashy outfits, Gardevoir still having her red jersey and spiked collar on. While the crowd loved this, one member barked, "Hey, you're gonna have to pay for those shirts!" Machoke tensing up and whimpering, "Oh shit, I forgot those were rentals."

Drizzile smiled and thought, 'They have such good chemistry. Maybe I should ask them for wedding tips. I really want Allie to be happy.'

"And in the blue corner are two former villains, both of which have faced their opponents once before!" Beedrill stated, "Both have proven themselves to be quite the team, and I'm sure they'll only continue to impress us today! Give a round of applause for the Gentle Punks!"

The crowd cheered when Bisharp walked toward the ring with his hand in the air. Scrafty held up his skin flap with one hand while forming a 'rock on' sign with the other, a rock melody playing in the background. Both then entered the ring and bowed to their opponents before Gardevoir giggled.

"Wow, so formal," she squeaked before Scrafty chuckled, "What can I say? Bisharp's a good influence," the knight replying, "Indeed. Although do not expect me to be a gentleman during this match. I have prepared for the day I would face you again, Sir Machoke," turning toward the reptilian.

"I can guarantee this'll be just like when we fought five years ago," Machoke remarked with a smirk only for Bisharp to grunt, "You're not the only one who has improved. You saw in the last tournament that Sir Scrafty is willing to fight with his hands now, correct?"

Gardevoir nodded and giggled, "I imagine you'll be a lot more difficult now," Scrafty chuckling, "Well, you're certainly a lot tougher than ya were when we first fought. Honestly, I'll be happy no matter what, but who knows? Maybe today will be my turn to win."

And so, he bumped his fist against the white woman's before Bisharp and Machoke shook hands, the crowd truly amazed while Nori said, "That level of sportsmanship, you don't see it often in these events. But it makes sense for such good friends to be this respectful before a match."

Both teams walked to their own sides of the ring before Butterfree nodded and said, "Well, without further ado, let's begin," Nori ringing the bell before sticking her tongue out at Beedrill who gave her a look of confusion.

Before Machoke and Gardevoir could do a thing, Scrafty immediately leapt toward Machoke and sent a hard knee kick to his forehead, barking, "HIGH JUMP KICK!"

The reptilian grunted in pain and fell on his back before the lizard delivered an axe kick to his gut. Gardevoir gasped only for Bisharp to race toward her with his arm out and shout, "WRIST SWORD!" He then swiped his blade into her side as she let out a loud cry, the crowd cheering wildly.

Scrafty smirked and flipped Machoke over. He then mounted himself onto the reptilian man's back and pulled up on his chin, grunting, "We figured the two of ya would expect us to attack the ones we fought before, so I came up with the idea of attacking ya first, Machoke," Bisharp sending multiple punches into Gardevoir's gut and adding, "And he suggested I go for you, Gardevoir. It seems to have worked."

He then proceeded to wrap his right arm around Gardevoir's neck before leaping into the air and forcing her to fall backward into the canvas. The crowd cheered as Nori stated, "And the Gentle Punks are off to a great start! Using the element of surprised, they've managed to get the drop on the Glamourous Fighting Machines!"

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little surprised," Gallade uttered, "Considering how much better Machoke and Gardevoir have gotten since they first fought those two, I figured this would be in the bag. Scrafty really prepared hard for this."

Aipom nodded and replied, "Well, he is a lot smarter than he looks," Bisharp currently on Gardevoir's gut while he unloaded a barrage of palm punched to her face.

However, the white woman would not allow herself to be beaten this easily. Thus she smirked and squealed, "You really think your slaps can compare to mine!?" sending both of her palms upward into Bisharp's chin. The knight's eyes widened as he lowered his guard, thus Gardevoir took hold of his shoulders and threw them backward, causing him to fly toward Scrafty.

The lizard blinked and turned just in time to see this. He let out a cry of terror before Bisharp collided with him and caused him to fall on his side. This allowed Machoke to rise back to his feet before he gave Gardevoir a thumb up and a grin, saying, "Nice one, honey."

Bisharp slowly rose back to his feet and groaned, "My apologies, Sir Scrafty," Scrafty groaning, "No, that was my bad. I should have let go of Machoke and caught you," only for Machoke to grab hold of Bisharp's shoulders, lift him up and slam his back into the mat.

Before Scrafty could retaliate, the reptilian proceeded to grab hold of his legs, lift him up and swing him around. He then released his hold and allowed the lizard to fly toward Gardevoir who leapt toward him with her legs drifting above her head.

Just as Scrafty closed in, Gardevoir took hold of his cheeks and descended toward the mat, squealing, "METEOR BOMB!" The back of Scrafty's head hit the canvas hard before he cried out in pain and rocked back and forth while clutching onto that very spot after Gardevoir released him.

The crowd cheered wildly as Machoke flipped Bisharp over onto his belly, mounted himself onto his back and took hold of his legs. He then pulled back, pulling off a perfect Boston crab as Beedrill happily announced all of this. Needless to say, Vaporeon and her friends were truly amazed by this. They knew Machoke and Gardevoir were good, but it was also said that they also had to deal with just as many close calls throughout their career as she and her friends did.

But just as it seemed like the Glamourous Fighting Machines had this match in the bag now, Bisharp narrowed his eyelids and said, "I'll admit, Machoke, your evolution as a fighter has certainly shown up to this point. Back when we first fought, you were only able to pull off moves like this with Aipom's help. This time, you figured it out all on your own. But even so, I've picked up a few tricks from Sir Scrafty in my time fighting alongside him."

He then let out a loud battle cry and used all his might to throw his legs back. This caused Machoke to let go of him and fly toward Scrafty who had just risen in time to leap up and latch onto Machoke's cheeks. Before Gardevoir could retaliate, the lizard leaned backward and planted his hands up against the canvas. He then threw Machoke over his head and into the white woman's forehead, causing her to gasp in pain and fall along with him.

Bisharp took full advantage of this and leapt atop Scrafty's head, the lizard taking hold of his ankles before he stated, "Machoke, I have only the utmost respect for you. I just want you to know that this is the reason why I've chosen to go all-out against you. If I were to face any of my other friends, I wouldn't be putting in nearly as much effort."

"Why do I feel insulted by that?" Blaziken grumbled, Gallade uttering, "Oh yeah, you did fight him once, didn't you?"

Scrafty grinned and knelt down before boosting himself high into the air. He and Bisharp then proceeded to spin vertically toward Machoke, shouting, "MASSIVE BATTLE AXE!"

The reptilian man tried to get up only to receive Bisharp's axe head to his gut. Thus a big gash formed and blood spewed out, Gardevoir gasping, "Honey!"

Of course, Bisharp knew full well this would not be enough to end it, thus he leapt off of Scrafty's shoulders and planted his feet into Machoke's gut. The lizard leapt toward Gardevoir with his knee out only for her to block it with her hands. Unfortunately for her, it seemed as if he had seen this coming when he swung his head forward and rammed it into her forehead.

This caused her to release her hold and allow him latch onto her neck. He then leaned backward, placed his hands against the mat and boosted himself high into the air, barking, "Hey, Bisharp, ya got Machoke in position!?"

The knight was now on his back as he pulled on Machoke's wrists and ankles with his hands and legs. He had the reptilian man in a bridge formation with his belly facing the sky while he exclaimed, "Ready!" Scrafty flinging Gardevoir upside-down and planting his knees into her back.

But just as it seemed like Machoke would fall victim to their Iron Maiden, he suddenly remembered back when Lucario had him trapped in a similar hold. Back when the dog had a spike on his chest, his main finisher was a move called London Bridge in which he would force his opponents into a bridge position and press said spike up against their backs. However, he ultimately stopped relying on the move as much when Machoke revealed a way to escape from it.

With that in mind, he shifted his ankles and pried them out of Bisharp's hold. Thus the knight gasped before the reptilian sent his feet into his sides. This caused Bisharp to release his hold on the wrists before Machoke leapt into the air with his arms and stopped Gardevoir's descent with his hands.

"What the-!?" Scrafty gasped before Gardevoir smiled sweetly and squeaked, "I knew you could do it, darling!" before Machoke swung her body downward. As such, Scrafty's eyes widened before he slid off of her back and fell hard against the canvas, Bisharp having just gotten up in time to witness this.

"Sir Scrafty, are you alright!?" he gasped before the lizard grunted, "I'll be fine. Not sure about my pride, though," Machoke and Gardevoir landing perfectly against the ring and breathing a simultaneous sigh of relief.

The crowd cheered wildly while Beedrill exclaimed, "Of course Machoke would escape from a hold like that. After all, that is how he defeated the London Bridge!"

"Oh yeah, I heard about that," Vaporeon uttered, "Still, that was a close one," Zeraora nodding and replying, "With their reputation, I had a feeling this match would be theirs no problem, but they've been really struggling up until now. It's nice to finally see one of those miracles Machoke is known for up close like this."

Amanda, all the while, folded her arms with a grin and said boastfully, "I taught him that counter," Veronica retorting, "Yeah, so he could beat Lucario's best move!" the dog laughing nervously and uttering, "We've been through this, sweetheart."

Palkia watched this and uttered, "Okay, that's an impressive counter," Dialga nodding and replying, "Make sure we don't try any holds like that on him when we inevitably fight those two."

Either way, while Bisharp and Scrafty had recovered, both were vulnerable, thus Machoke and Gardevoir nodded at one-another before the reptilian man quipped, "As long as you're not holding back, neither are we! We hate to do this so soon, but we're gonna end this!" both leaping toward their opponents with an arm out each.

"ECLIPSE HOOK!" they barked before they rammed their arms into the Gentle Punks' necks, knocking them on their backs. This left the knight and lizard vulnerable before Machoke and Gardevoir lifted them up and hurled them high above the ring.

The crowd knew exactly what was coming, Scorbunny uttering, "I've heard stories about this," Zeraora enquiring, "Is this that ultimate team move that beat Hoopa?"

It seemed so when Machoke and Gardevoir both ran to separate sets of ropes and bounced off of them. The reptilian rolled up into a ball and rammed into Bisharp's back while the white woman curved her body forward into a quarter moon formation and spun into Scrafty's belly. Machoke reverted to his normal state and threw his arms and legs back before taking hold of Bisharp's chin and ankles while Gardevoir leaned backward into the same moon shape and latched onto Scrafty's shoulders and legs.

With both Gentle Punks pressed up against each other, Machoke and Gardevoir spun like a wheel and descended toward the canvas, the crowd truly ecstatic. Sure enough, both timed their descent just right and rammed the backs of Bisharp and Scrafty's necks into the canvas, shouting, "NIGHT AND DAY MUSCLE PRESS!"

The Gentle Punks coughed up blood and closed their eyes before the Glamourous Fighting Machines released them and allowed them to collapse. Both breathed heavily and smiled at one-another while Nori started the ten count, Beedrill exclaiming, "And it seems as if Machoke and Gardevoir might have very well just won! For those unaware, this was the very move that defeated Hoopa four years ago!"

Gallade, Blaziken and Aipom cheered wildly while the others simply stared in stunned silence. Now Rillaboom felt nervous about the idea of possibly facing these two in combat. She would definitely have to remind herself that they were fellow heroes, but even so, she could tell that was devastating.

And it certainly was as Nori reached ten seconds and rang the bell before she stated, "And as I'm sure many expected, The Glamourous Fighting Machines have won the match and will advance to round two! Thus concludes the first round of the Ultimate World Team Tournament!"

The stadium erupted with heavy cheers and applause while Machoke and Gardevoir rose their arms in the air. They then grinned at Lucario and Clauncher who both folded their arms and nodded. They definitely looked forward to their match with the duo three days from now.

Bisharp and Scrafty slowly sat upright and rubbed the backs of this heads, the lizard sighing, "One of the nice things ya can say about these two, ya can always count on them to use less force on friends."

Bisharp nodded and replied, "Indeed," before he rose to his feet and bowed to Machoke and Gardevoir, "Good show, you two. Just as I expect from the ones who bested us in combat before."

Scrafty followed suit with a bow of his own before they exited the ring, Dialga nodding and saying, "Well, that was pretty good, but those two are fools. They've shown us how their best move works."

Palkia blinked and uttered, "Wait, have you already figured out a way to counter that?" the blue dragon replying, "Indeed. After all, one of the moves that makes that one up is one that Lucario countered years ago, and honestly, Gardevoir's contribution looks easy to exploit. This won't be difficult."

With that in mind, both dragons stood up before Palkia lifted Dialga by the shoulders and carried him over to Beedrill and Butterfree. After all, with her ability to fly, they did not need to pass through the bleachers. And when they met up with their employers, they bowed their heads while the wasp praised them for a good job.

Although deep down, he and Butterfree did feel a little bad for Shaymin. They hoped she would get better soon, though they were unsure why they wanted her to recover more than everyone else who suffered major injuries up to this point. Even though she came off as rude at first, something about her made her seem like someone they could easily get along with.

Rillaboom narrowed her eyelids when she saw Dialga and Palkia acting friendly and thought, 'Fine, even if there's no way to expose them, it doesn't matter. Aipom and I will take care of them and then no one will have to worry about them again,' though she really hoped she could back that up. After all, Melmetal was so far the only villain to ever best her in combat and yet both dragons beat him badly.

Drizzile, all the while, looked at them and thought, 'I really hope Gallade and I could defeat them if given the chance. We might be the ones to face them in the finals,' Vaporeon feeling the same. Though she had to trust Rillaboom to come out on top. After all, the gorilla was the most physically strong member of their group. Surely she could bring major harm to them.

Scorbunny was certain she and Blaziken could defeat them if they were to make it to the finals, though right now, she was looking much more forward to her match with Vaporeon. The fox suddenly remembered that herself before she smiled and bowed her head to the rabbit. Blaziken rested a hand atop Scorbunny's head before nodding at her and giving her a thumb up.

And so, with the day's matches at a close, everyone exited the stadium, though before they headed to the places they were staying at, Machoke suggested visiting all of the friends who had been hospitalized. Needless to say, the heroes of Edmonton were more than up to that as was Zeraora. While he may not have known the others well, he still saw them as friends.

But as they left, Vaporeon blinked and stood still for a few seconds. Zeraora turned to her and enquired, "What's up?" only for the fox to chuckle, "Sorry. I thought I felt something."

But as she joined the group on their trip to the exit, a set of eyes gazed upon her from behind the bleachers. But whose were they? And could this stranger be trusted?

First they checked up on Morgrem and Rolycoly. At the very least, Rolycoly seemed to show a few signs of recovery. Unlike the goblin, who was out like a light, he moved a little bit in his sleep. This was a touch reassuring, but the others still hoped the duo would get better soon.

Either way, Rillaboom still felt the need to approach the two before she patted them on the head and said, "You guys did a good job back there. Don't worry, Drizzile and Gallade will finish what you started," the chameleon nodding with a serious look in his eyes. And after his two victories, Gallade felt as if he could do anything, so he had a look of confidence as well.

The group then checked up on Shaymin and Melmetal. Much like Hitmonchan, the doctors confirmed that they would be out for at least a week's time. As such, Rillaboom frowned and swore that she would defeat Dialga and Palkia. Of course, Aipom was more than happy to help with that, though she had a feeling there was more to this than simply avenging her friends' loss.

With all said and done, everyone was ready to pack it in. Thus they all wished each other a good night and headed their separate ways, each team walking to wherever they were staying. And when Vaporeon reached Zeraora's house, she breathed in through the nose and expelled the air. She then smiled at Zeraora and said, "I gotta admit, you were pretty amazing today. You still got quite a bit of work to do, but you're getting there."

"Yeah," the cat replied with a grin, "When I finally managed to use my electricity, it was such a thrill. I'm still not entirely sure how I pulled it off, but it's a great feeling."

Vaporeon nodded and said, "Anyway, we got a couple of days to work on it. I'm sure you'll master it soon enough," before sighing, "Though honestly, I just hope I'm ready for our next match."

Zeraora blinked and stared with concern before he remembered who they were fighting. While he may not have known that Vaporeon and Scorbunny had fought twice before, he could see that they were certainly very good friends. As such, he figured that must have had something to do with how nervous Vaporeon was.

But just as they were about to head inside, Vaporeon blinked when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to Zeraora and asked, "What?" only for the cat to stare awkwardly and reply, "I didn't say anything."

"Oh, sorry, that was me," came a voice from behind them, Vaporeon turning and replying, "Oh, hello. What can I-?" her eyes and mouth wide open while a light gasp escaped from her mouth. Standing before her was a light tan fox with big brown eyes and matching paws. She had green sprouts growing out of her neck, wrists and ankles and her ears and two tails resembled leaves.

Vaporeon could barely contain herself right now. This fox was none other than her great grandmother, Leafeon. While the blue fox knew there was always a chance this would happen, she still could not believe it.


	22. Chapter 22

Vaporeon was spellbound. She was face-to-face with her great grandmother, Leafeon. And while she stood there, she breathed heavily as Zeraora looked back and forth between the two. While they were different types, they definitely had similar features.

After a few seconds, Vaporeon uttered, "Oh, um, hello," Leafeon replying, "Hi to you too," before she started to examine the blue fox with her eyes narrowed. Needless to say, Vaporeon felt a touch uncomfortable while Zeraora was simply confused.

After a few seconds, Leafeon took a deep breath and asked, "Alright, be honest, are you related to me?" Vaporeon staring in stunned silence and thinking, 'Who starts a conversation like that?' before she uttered, "I beg your pardon."

"It's a simple question!" Leafeon retorted, "Are you related to me!? Because you look really similar to my family, like, really, really similar, so much so that you have my mom's eyes!"

Zeraora pursed his lower lip before Vaporeon chuckled, "Oh no, it's pure coincidence. I just happen to be the same species," only for Leafeon to retort, "Do you think I'm stupid!? You pulled that same bullshit with Barbaracle and Golduck and you came off as just as awkward! Honestly, the fact that they fell for that is shameful!"

'Oh, shit, she caught onto that!' Vaporeon thought with a look of dread, 'Although she does have a good point. I can't believe that worked either.'

"Is she right?" Zeraora uttered, thinking, 'Now that I think about it, I don't even know who this is.'

Vaporeon bit her lower lip and thought, 'Okay, Scorbunny managed to pull this off with Raboot without spilling our secret. I could probably do the same. Now, what did she tell him?' But while the idea of her being a cousin seemed legit, there was one major problem, and it was that before Eevee was born, members of her family never had biological siblings. And if she claimed to be related to Jolteon, she was certain Leafeon would ask her.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and said, "In all honesty, I don't really know. I've been wondering that my whole life. I've always noticed the similarities between me and your mother, but I've heard nothing about whether or not I'm related to you, so I just kinda tell people that I'm not so they don't ask further questions."

Zeraora blinked and thought, 'This fox's mother must be really famous for her to even know that,' while Leafeon narrowed her eyelids. However, after a few seconds, she let out a sigh and remarked, "Well, why didn't you just say so in the first place instead of beating around the bush!?"

Vaporeon stared in stunned silence. Even though this was the only good answer she could give without revealing the truth, she still could not believe it had actually worked. Nevertheless, she was beyond grateful, thus she sighed with relief and said, "Well, I thought if I told you, you'd waste time and try to find the truth for me."

"Well, of course I would!" Leafeon squealed with a big grin, "Seriously, I might have found a long lost sister! How cool would that be!?" the blue fox blinking as the tan fox clasped onto her hands and added, "All this time, I thought I was an only child, yet I might have a sibling!"

She then pulled out her phone seemingly out of nowhere and asked, "Should I call Mommy right now!? It is two hours earlier in Bangkok, so she'll still be awake!"

Vaporeon gulped before thinking, 'What am I so afraid of? The worst that'll happen is she'll say she doesn't know me.' With that in mind, she took a deep breath, nodded and uttered, "Okay, yeah, go for it. I'd really like to know what she has to say."

Zeraora blinked and asked, "Um, should I...?" Leafeon gasping, "Oh my god, we've been ignoring you this whole time!"

She bowed her head and said, "Sorry about that. The name's Leafeon," before Zeraora bowed back and replied, "Zeraora," only for the tan fox to chuckle, "I know your name. After all, I've seen your matches so far, and I gotta say, you're a pretty awesome tag partner for my possible sister," winking at the two.

Vaporeon laughed nervously while Zeraora chuckled and blushed. Either way, Leafeon was soon invited into the house to join the duo for dinner. After all, it would have been rude for Zeraora to just send her away like that.

Leafeon smiled wide at the spread placed before her. While Zeraora, with his lack of money, often had the bare minimum of food to live off of each week, Vaporeon was a master at cooking since her father, Popplio, had taught her advanced recipes since she was eight. As such, she was able to take the simplest of ingredients and turn them into a feast, and she managed to do so with three pieces of fish, a small number of greens and rice. When Leafeon took a bite, she felt like she was in heaven.

"Wow!" Leafeon squealed, "My could-be long lost sister is a master chef!" Vaporeon giggling, "I wouldn't say master."

"No, she's right," Zeraora replied while biting into it, "I still remember our first night together after we started training. I was going to prepare some ramen in the microwave for us, but then you put the noodles into a pot and added a whole bunch of other stuff to make it so much better. I swear, if it hadn't been for you, I'd have spent my whole life living off of average meals."

"Well, my daddy taught me how to cook," Vaporeon replied before she pursed her lips, Leafeon blinking before she slapped herself on the forehead and said, "Doy! You mean your adopted father!" before asking, "So, what's he like, anyway?"

The blue fox smiled and replied, "He's not what you'd expect. Most of my moves come from him. See, he actually grew up in a circus, but he didn't want to be a performer, so get this, he actually went to Hero School against Grandma's wishes."

"Wait, your dad attended Hero School?" Leafeon uttered, "But the school was built five years ago," Vaporeon covering her mouth with her eyes wide open with horror. Why had she said that? She knew this, she had heard it many times and yet she could not help but blurt it out.

"Oh, that must have been a mistake," Zeraora uttered, "I think she meant he went off to become a hero behind his mom's back," Vaporeon chuckling, "Yeah, that's exactly what I meant!" thinking, 'Thank you, Zeraora.'

Leafeon nodded and replied, "Oh, okay, that makes sense," though she had a look of suspicion now. Either way, she would still call up Jolteon later before bed, but for the time being, she simply wanted to enjoy the rest of her meal.

Zeraora asked about Jolteon, Leafeon going into great detail about her. The most noteworthy detail was that Jolteon had a tendency to talk at a super fast pace due to the fact that she lived on a diet of nothing but coffee. For some reason, she was the only member of their family who could do that and not suffer health problems.

Once dinner was over, all three heroes had their own separate showers with Vaporeon agreeing to go last. As it so happened, not only could she lower the temperature of water that touched her body, but she could also increase it. This meant that even if she took a cold shower, she could make it feel warm. Thus it only stood to reason that she allow the others to use as much hot water as they wanted.

When her turn came, Zeraora set up a futon in the living room. After all, he only had one bedroom in his home, and he was currently sharing it with Vaporeon. Luckily for him, though, the tan fox was more than okay with this arrangement.

Once he left her alone, she pulled out her phone and called up her mother. As expected, she received an ear full of words at a rapid pace, but since she had grown used to it, this did not bother her in the slightest. And once Jolteon was finished talking, Leafeon took a deep breath and said, "Hey, Mommy, you'll never believe this, but I found someone who might be a relative of ours who isn't in our records and I'm currently staying at the same place she is. Could you come here and confirm her identity?"

Jolteon's eyes and mouth widened as for the first time in her life, she was unable to find a response right away. But after a few seconds, she cleared her throat and replied in her usual fast voice, "Alright, Leafeon, you wait right there. I'll take the next flight lickety-split and be there super duper fast. Or maybe I should just run there across the ocean. No, then I might have to stop and fight sharks on the way and I'm not in the mood for that. Anyway, goodnight."

Leafeon chuckled and lay down with her arms folded behind her head, thinking, 'She's definitely related to me, but I don't think she's my sister. She can't be a cousin either, and she's way too young to be a lost auntie. I just can't put my finger on it.'

During this time, Scorbunny and Blaziken stayed up a tad late so they could work on a little training in advance at a local gym. The rabbit delivered multiple kicks to a punching bag while Blaziken went to town on a practice dummy. Nevertheless, both felt more than ready.

"I'll admit, I'm kinda surprised you're going this far for a match with a friend," Blaziken stated, "Granted, I'd do the same, but I'm wondering what your reason is," Scorbunny chuckling, "Well, truth be told, Vaporeon was the first hero I ever faced. See, much like Melmetal, there was a time when I, Drizzile and Rillaboom used to serve evil. We all lost in less than a minute. This is my chance at having a proper rematch with Vaporeon. I don't wanna waste that."

"That makes sense," Blaziken replied with a grin, "I'm sure she's hard at work, too. But with my help, you might just come out on top this time."

She then took a deep breath and added, "You know, I'm really surprised I've never heard of any of you. You all sound like you've lived such fascinating lives, much like us. How is it that we've never seen news coverage of you? You're all great fighters, most of you are former villains and it sounds like you've defeated a ton of noteworthy opponents over the past. I mean, Drizzile turned a powerhouse like Melmetal to the side of good. You'd think that would have been broadcast worldwide."

"Yeah, you'd think so," Scorbunny replied, "Honestly, I wish I could explain that, but I really can't," thinking, 'That's right, if I did, it could ruin the future. Still not sure how, but I'll take Shaymin's word for it.'

Luckily, Blaziken dropped the issue as soon as she heard that. She had a feeling Scorbunny was hiding something, but she also suspected there had to have been a reason for it. After all, the rabbit had given her no reason to distrust her yet.

All the while, Gallade lay down in a hotel bed beside another one that Drizzile was in, saying, "Oh, yeah, the doctor said Hitmonchan should be all better in the next couple of days. That means she'll be there to cheer us on. That makes me so happy!"

He then sighed, "I hope she's not upset that I replaced her so quickly," Drizzile uttering, "But you said she'd be okay with that. You sounded really certain of that, too."

The green man chuckled nervously and replied, "Well, yeah, Hitmonchan's often okay with just about every decision I make and I know she wouldn't have wanted me to drop out of the tournament because of her. But even so, it took me less than a minute to just accept you as my partner. The least I could have done was thought about it for a few more hours before-"

"Don't beat yourself up," Drizzile chuckled, "If anything, I bet she'd be really happy to hear that you're actually competing in the second round," Gallade nodding and replying, "Yeah, you're right. That's exactly how she'd react," before sighing, "But seriously, Drizzile, you've really helped me out. And I don't just mean helping me get this far. Like you said, I've always tried my best no matter how many times I lost over the past, but even then, I've never had the highest self esteem."

Drizzile rose an eyebrow while the green man added, "I'm often the butt of so many jokes. I mean, I have a better track record than Magnemite and Squirtle, yet people make fun of me more often. I've even put myself down in the past. But, well, these last two matches have given me a great boost in confidence. Now I truly believe that I could actually win this tournament. So thank you, Drizzile."

The chameleon smiled sweetly and thought, 'Wow, to think I had this kind of effect on my idol. I can only imagine how he'd react if I told him he defeats a villain on his own nine years from now.'

Rillaboom and Aipom, much like Blaziken and Scorbunny, had also decided to get in some extra training. Though for them, it was mainly due to who they were fighting next. There was no way they would allow Palkia and Dialga to defeat them.

The whole time, the monkey could not fight this feeling that there was more to this than simply winning the match and avenging Shaymin and Melmetal's loss. After all, even before the match, she could tell that Rillaboom and the others were dead set on defeating those two. But as much as she wanted to ask about that, she had a feeling she would not get an answer, at least not yet.

When the following day came around, everyone was hard at work. Leafeon had even offered to help Zeraora and Vaporeon train in a mostly empty gym. The blue fox was uncertain of this as she wanted to build up Zeraora's skills herself, but at the same time, a part of her also wanted to see what her great grandmother was capable of. After all, Eevee had based her second signature move off of one of hers, so Vaporeon figured if she studied it closely enough, she might be able to learn it as well.

Zeraora whipped his tail repeatedly into a sandbag only to show no results while he thought, 'Dammit, how do I cover it in electricity like before? There has to be some kind of secret.'

Vaporeon noticed this and approached him before she asked, "Still not sure how you used it?" the cat groaning, "Yeah. It's just, I feel like I've gotten lucky so far. If I can't figure out how to use my electricity, I get the feeling it'll turn on me again, just like in our match with Scolipede and Geodude. Think about it. We almost lost our advantage because of that."

Leafeon rose an eyebrow and thought, 'Oh yeah, that did happen, didn't it?' Zeraora enquiring, "Okay, I really need some advice. Vaporeon, how did you master your abilities? I mean, not only can you make water, but you can alter your body temperature and turn it into ice. How did you master that?"

"Well, it was difficult," Vaporeon sighed, "Believe you me, it really was, mostly because this ability is unique only to me. I don't know why, but it's always been that way with family. Every female has been a fox with a different typing."

Leafeon's eyes widened when she heard that. This described her family to a tee. Although now she could not help but feel even more confused when the blue fox added, "See, Mommy's a normal type, so I only got basic fighting moves from her, and while Daddy's a water type, he doesn't have the ability to alter his body heat."

Zeraora nodded and replied, "Well, that's certainly-" before his eyes widened. He then stared silently at Vaporeon before she blinked and uttered, "What?" But after a few seconds, she suddenly realized what she had just said. Sure, to reveal that her father had gone to Hero School when it had not been invented during Jolteon's time was one thing, but there was no getting around a slip-up like this.

And Leafeon realized it too. Her suspicion was correct. Vaporeon was related to her, but she was connected to someone else. As such, she frowned and marched over to the blue fox, grunting, "Now, hold on just a minute! Yesterday, you said you didn't know anything about your true family! However, our family is the only one that fits the description you just gave! But on top of that, you describe your adopted parents as if they're your biological parents! But we have no normal types in our family tree, at least not that I know of!"

Vaporeon gulped nervously while Zeraora uttered, "Why would you lie about that?" Leafeon growling, "That's what I wanna know!"

But just as things were about to get their worst, everyone's eyes widened when they heard the door open. And when they turned, a yellow fox with spiky fur stood by the entrance. She smiled upon seeing Leafeon and squealed, "I found you!"

Then in the blink of an eye, she was already right up against the tan fox while she held her in a tight embrace. She then let go of her and said, "And you must be those new friends she told me about. Hi, I'm Jolteon, but you probably already knew that," pulling out a cup of coffee and taking a sip of it, "Anyway, Leafeon called me here to discuss something. Do you have time?"

Vaporeon was truly astounded. As if meeting her great grandmother was not enough, now she was face-to-face with her great, great grandmother. And it was not long until everyone was seated, Jolteon taking another sip of coffee with a big grin on her face. Though that grin quickly left her when Leafeon and Zeraora both explained what Vaporeon had just said.

"Wait, what's all this?" Jolteon uttered, Leafeon staring in shock since for a split second, the yellow fox's voice had actually been at a normal speed.

Jolteon stared deep into Vaporeon's eyes and narrowed her own. The blue fox breathed nervous with a look of terror, like she had just ruined their entire plan. And yet strangely enough, Jolteon's suspicion soon became shock as her eyes widened and she pursed her lips.

She then cleared her throat, took a sip of coffee and barked, "Are you telling me I have a long-lost normal type sister!? Oh my god, this is incredible! And she even married a water type circus performer!? Wow, I need to know more about my family tree! I would ask my Mommy about this, but I don't even wanna think about the possibility that she might have cheated on Daddy back in the day! Or maybe she just-"

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Leafeon snapped with a look of terror in her eyes, "Please, please don't go into more detail," before breathing heavily and looking at Vaporeon who sighed, "Well, now you know the truth."

Leafeon and Zeraora both stared at her while she fibbed, "Yeah, it's true, my mother is my Aunt Jolteon's long-lost sister. Yeah, she met someone else before your dad, a normal type Hero who turned out to be a massive scumbag before she left him and met my uncle. Yeah, turns out she wanted nothing to do with him, so she disowned Mommy and had her sent to a foster home instead. Yeah, both of them prefer not to talk about it and Mommy refuses to meet either my aunt or uncle in person. Yeah, if she found out I was talking to Jolteon right now, she'd be really pissed off, so it's best we don't try to contact her."

She then took many deep breaths and enquired, "Yeah, did I say 'yeah' too many times?" Leafeon blinking and narrowing her eyelids. But just as she was about to question this further, Jolteon gasped, "Wow! I always suspected I had a long lost sibling somewhere, and now I know the truth! Thank you so much! That was so enlightening! I need a while to let this process!" sitting still for half a second before squealing, "Okay, I'm done!"

Leafeon stared at her mother in shock. The tan fox had a talent for telling when she was being lied to, hence why she knew Vaporeon's coverup yesterday had been false. As such, she knew Jolteon had just made up all of that to make it seem like the blue fox had told the truth. And when she noticed this, she figured there had to have been a good reason, thus she took a deep breath and forced a grin.

"Well, why didn't you just say so from the start?" she asked, "Seriously, it would have saved us so much drama," Zeraora nodding and replying, "She's got a point."

"I figured if she didn't want to meet any of you in person, she wouldn't want me to tell you of her existence," Vaporeon chuckled with nervous sweat, thinking, 'Wait, did Great, Great, Great Grandma Espeon really meet someone else before she met Gamon?'

Either way, while Leafeon really wanted to ask more, seeing her mother playing along with Vaporeon's obvious lie told her it was time to drop the issue. She knew it would eat away at her for a while, but deep down, she also figured she could avoid letting this whole thing bother her too much.

After a while, Jolteon was seated with the group for a lunch that Vaporeon had made and brought with her. Her eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Wow, I can't believe a member of my own clan can cook so well! There's a lot of things I can do, but I sure as Hell don't do all the cooking in my family! That's my husband's job!" slurping down some Pad Thai.

Vaporeon giggled, "Well, it was the same with my family. Daddy was the one who taught me how to cook," Leafeon slurping on her own noodles herself and trying her best not to let all this talk of family bother her. All the while, Zeraora eyed Jolteon before she looked at him and asked, "Something wrong?"

"Actually, if it's not too much trouble, I wanna discuss something with you privately after lunch," the cat replied while he bit his lower lip, eyeing Vaporeon nervously. The blue fox blinked and darted her eyes back and forth before Jolteon nodded with a sweet smile.

Once the yellow fox finished her lunch, she and Zeraora walked away from the other two, Leafeon smiling at Vaporeon and suggesting, "Well, cousin, what say we spar a little?" the blue fox nodding and replying, "Oh, okay, sure, why not?"

Once they were out of earshot, Jolteon tried not to talk too much and asked, "So, what is it?" her body bobbing up and down while Zeraora asked, "So, going by the word jolt in your name, I take it you're an electric type, right?"

"Oh, yes, how very clever of you to catch onto that!" Jolteon replied with multiple rapid nods of her head, not having the heart to point out how obvious that knowledge should have been before the cat sighed, "Well, in my last match, I was able to use my electricity, but I'm not sure how I did it. I was wondering if maybe you could help me master my power before the next round."

Jolteon stopped shifting her body and put on a more serious look. She gazed briefly into the cat's eyes before hers sparkled and a big grin formed on her face. She then held his hands, shook them vigorously and squealed, "Of course I will! We can get started right away! Assuming you want to start right away. I mean, I certainly wouldn't wanna force you-"

"Yes, that would be great," Zeraora chuckled, "I wanna get this down as quickly as possible," Jolteon about to tell Vaporeon only for him to add, "Don't tell her exactly what we're doing. Vaporeon seems dead set on shaping me into a perfect fighter and if she finds out you helped me with this, it might shatter her pride."

Jolteon blinked and stared at her before thinking in a surprisingly calm and mellow tone, 'Oh yeah, she's definitely related to me.'

With that in mind, Zeraora approached Vaporeon, who currently had Leafeon caught in a headlock and said, "Um, Jolteon and I are gonna go out for a little bit. You don't mind, do you?" the blue fox replying, "Well, alright, but don't be out too long. We still got a lot of training to do."

Leafeon used this chance to break free from Vaporeon's hold before sending a roundhouse into her gut, the blue fox grunting, "Oh, you'll pay for that!" forming a ball of ice on her tail before Zeraora and Jolteon exited the building.

But while Zeraora made it sound as if they would head far from the area, Jolteon simply led him to a nearby Basketball court that was thankfully empty right now. With that in mind, she took a deep breath and said, "I can understand why you're struggling with this. Mastering electricity isn't easy, let me tell you. It took me a really, really, really long time to figure it out myself, but with hard work and determination, I know you can pull it off!"

And so, she knelt down into a meditative state and signalled Zeraora to do the same. Needless to say, this certainly surprised him. After all, Jolteon seemed like someone who would never be able to pull off a calm state of mind and yet here she was doing just that.

Nevertheless, he followed suit as she said, "Now, try to focus really, really hard. If you can at least light up a spark by your own volition, you might just be ready for step two."

Zeraora closed his eyes and focused hard. After a few seconds, Jolteon noticed a small spark form on his right whisker. However, it faded after a few seconds, thus she nodded and said, "Keep at it. This might take a while," the cat trying his hardest. Though each time he got even a tiny spark only for it to vanish again, Jolteon could continually tell him to keep at it only for him to open his eyes and grunt, "You know, you're kinda distracting me right now."

The yellow fox blinked and squeaked, "Oh, sorry! As someone who moves around a lot, I don't have a whole lot of patience. In fact, that might explain why mastering electricity was so hard for me. In fact, it took me forever just to be able to sit still like this for hours and hours and hours and-" only for Zeraora to narrow his eyelids, thus she pursed her hands over her lips and breathed and out through her nose.

As such, she sat there quietly while Zeraora concentrated again. Now that Jolteon was no longer talking every few seconds, he was able to clear his mind. Thus he was finally able to keep sparks flying around his whiskers. Sure, they were small and he had not been completely conscious when he pulled it off, but he had still done it. Perhaps he could master the ability in a much smaller period of time than it took Jolteon.


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: The song Vaporeon refers to is a real song called 'Thank You For Being A Friend' written by Andrew Gold and used as the theme song for Golden Girls.

Jolteon and Zeraora remained in the Basketball court for a while, but after enough time passed, he was finally able to make the sparks last. As such, the yellow fox was ready for step two. With that in mind, she had him stop meditating, his sparks still circling his whiskers.

Once Zeraora opened his eyes, Jolteon used her eyes to signal him to look down. Thus he did just that before he noticed the whiskers in question. He breathed heavily and lifted up his paw, lightly holding his claw up to the electricity as it spread to that and covered his entire forearm. A light smile formed on his face as he said, "I did it. I actually used it."

"Yep, you sure did!" Jolteon squealed, "But you weren't fully conscious. That's gonna be lesson number two, Electric B-" Zeraora holding out his hand and retorting, "Please, please don't finish that," the yellow fox blinking before she chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

She then stated, "Anyway, now that you've figured out how to activate electricity by clearing your thoughts, now I'm gonna teach you to use it on command. One thing you need plenty of is energy," Zeraora nodding and replying, "Well, I'm not lazy like normal cats, so I might be fine there."

Jolteon nodded and squealed, "Alright, now go to town on this this!" pulling out a big metal practice dummy seemingly out of nowhere, "Maybe try scratching it. If you can really get into the moment, you should notice sparks fly."

Zeraora nodded and started to claw rapidly at the dummy. While this showed little results at first, he started to pick up the pace when Jolteon told him to. He continued to get faster and faster until finally, he saw a tiny spark emerge from his right middle claw. His eyes widened as he kept at it, more sparks forming until soon, electricity circled around his paw.

Thus he turned toward Jolteon and said, "Wow, you're a really good teacher," Jolteon beaming with pride and squealing, "Naturally." For a split second, the cat could swear he saw her nose grow to the size of that of a tengu, though he was too distracted by the fact that she said that in such a calm tone.

Jolteon soon noticed this herself, thus she picked up a cup of freshly brewed coffee and gulped it down before her entire body started to vibrate. Thus Zeraora stared at her and thought, 'If she wasn't so nice, this would terrify me.'

And so, the cat spent another hour training. After all, just because he had gotten sparks to form once did not mean he had completely figured out how to use them on command. But much like when Rillaboom learned how to use her grass powers, he had surprisingly gotten the hang of it very quickly. Like her, he had simply needed someone with the same element to show him.

The two returned soon as Vaporeon and Leafeon panted heavily from a lot of sparring. The blue fox turned and said, "Boy, you two were sure gone a long time," Jolteon squealing, "I couldn't help it. Tokyo's just so big and cool. I had to do everything with Zeraora!" the cat chuckling and thinking, 'Yeah, with her speed and energy, that's actually believable.'

Leafeon could once again tell she was lying, but unlike before, she immediately caught onto the reason. Thus she said nothing and nodded her head, saying, "Well, Vaporeon and I have been sparring a lot. I gotta say, she wasn't kidding. Her style is way different from mine."

Vaporeon gave her own nod before Zeraora approached her and said, "Hey, um, I had an idea while I was hanging out with Jolteon. Seeing as she and Leafeon are here and aren't competing, I thought it might be a good idea to spar with them, you know, maybe have a two-on-two match with them."

Leafeon blinked and turned to Jolteon who gave the cat a thumb up. Vaporeon blinked and nodded her head, replying, "Okay, yeah," a big smile on her face, "In fact, I was gonna suggest maybe we do that tomorrow after you master your electric powers, but you know what? You seem to always activate them during matches, so this might help."

The tan fox seemed to like the idea as well, thus she smiled and said, "I'm definitely up for that. It'll be nice to see what the two of you can do against veterans like us, eh, cousin?"

Vaporeon nodded and thought, 'Well, it's not an official match. Besides, if Scorbunny can fight her great grandfather without hesitation, I can do the same with my family, right?'

With that in mind, she and Leafeon got a little bit of rest in before heading to a wrestling ring reserved for people to spar. At this moment, a few citizens just happened to enter the gym and notice this. Thus they all sat on the floor to watch. After all, while they had only discovered Vaporeon and Zeraora a while ago, they knew full well who Jolteon and Leafeon were and could not wait to see them in action.

When Jolteon saw all the people, she grinned and squealed, "Who wants to be our announcer!?" a young man smiling and raising his hand before anyone else. Thus the yellow fox nodded and exclaimed, "Alright, just signal the start of the match when we're good and ready! Of course, I'm more than ready right now, but the others might not be!"

"Nah, I'm fine," Leafeon said with a shrug while Vaporeon turned to Zeraora. The cat seemed to be prepared when he gave her a thumb up, so she nodded and gave her opponents the same gesture.

With that in mind, the man in the crowd rose his arm and exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen of the gym, we are gathered here today to witness a truly momentous occasion! Legendary fighters, Jolteon and Leafeon are about to go toe-to-toe with newcomers, Vaporeon and Zeraora! So, without further ado, let's begin!"

He then lowered his hand and signalled the start of the match. Zeraora winked at Jolteon before he raced toward her with his arm out. The yellow fox smirked and sped toward him at the speed of sound, ramming her arm into his neck and knocking him on his back before anyone could even figure out what was going on. Vaporeon stared at this and thought, 'Oh god, she's just as good as I heard she was.'

With that in mind, she was just about to head toward Jolteon and help her partner only for Leafeon to spread her tails out like blades and race by the blue fox. She then shouted, "LEAF SWORD DASH!" putting a cut on Vaporeon's side.

The blue fox winced in pain and looked at the blood dripping from her. It was clear that while this was a sparring match, both of her ancestors were not holding back. With that in mind, Vaporeon took a deep breath when she noticed Leafeon aim a roundhouse at her.

Unlike before when she fell victim to this, Vaporeon took hold of her leg and twisted it, causing the tan fox to fall on her back while Zeraora got up only for Jolteon to bounce off the rope and ram her skull into his back. She then stood upright and unleashed a barrage of rapid karate chops into his chest like machine gun bullets.

But while it looked like this really hurt, in reality, the yellow fox was holding back. As it so happened, she and Zeraora planned this in advance. The cat wanted to make it look like he was struggling against her so that when he finally unleashed his electricity, it would seem like Vaporeon somehow inspired it.

Vaporeon, however, truly believed he was in pain, thus she formed her ball of water and turned it into ice. She then leapt toward Jolteon who signalled Leafeon not to stop her. Sparks of electricity surrounded the yellow fox as a smirk crossed her face. And when Vaporeon swung her tail at her and shouted, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!" Jolteon sped behind the blue fox and wrapped her arms around her.

She then turned toward Leafeon and winked at her before she leaned backward. The tan fox nodded and leapt at Vaporeon before she spun around and leaned her arms back. She then took hold of Vaporeon's chin before she and her mother squeaked, "DOUBLE SUPLEX!" ramming the back of the blue fox's head into the canvas.

Zeraora winced at the sight of this and thought, 'Sorry, Vaporeon, but Jolteon really wanted to make our victory look super impressive,' and while Leafeon had caught onto the fact that her mother wanted her to hold back just a little bit, just pulling off a team move with her felt satisfying.

Vaporeon gritted her teeth and held onto the back of her head before Zeraora faked a gasp. He then growled, "Alright, that's it! I don't care if you two are friends! I'm not going easy on you!" clenching his fists and racing toward both foxes.

Since Leafeon had already figured out Jolteon's plan, she did not even need to be signalled to stand still and allow Zeraora to land a hit. Thus she pretended to have a delayed reaction before the cat formed sparks around both arms and barked, "LIGHTNING ROD CLOTHESLINE!"

The crowd cheered when he rammed both arms into Jolteon and Leafeon's necks. The foxes gasped in pain and fell on their backs before Vaporeon rose to her feet and stared at Zeraora in shock. Ge then breathed heavily as he smiled and uttered, "Look. I wanted to produce electricity and I did. I did it all on my own!"

He would have mentioned how the idea was that her being in trouble caused it, but he figured such wording may have come off as a tad suspicious. As such, he left it there, and it seemed to work when a big smile formed on Vaporeon's face. However, it looked like the duo had not exactly won when Jolteon winked at Leafeon and whispered, "Now that Vaporeon knows Zeraora can use his electricity, what say we take this match seriously now?"

"Wait, so you weren't actually thinking of throwing the match?" Leafeon replied only for the yellow fox to chuckle, "As if. I haven't had action like this in ages. This is my chance to show the people of Tokyo just how awesome I am. There's no way I'm losing on purpose."

Leafeon smirked and squealed, "I figured you of all people would never sink to that level," thus she and Jolteon rose to their feet and nodded at one-another. Vaporeon turned to face them and smiled at Zeraora, asking, "You ready to finish this, partner?" the cat shooting her a grin and nodding.

With that in mind, Vaporeon once again formed ice on the tip of her tail while Zeraora formed electricity around his. Just the fact that he had been able to do that by his own free will was the greatest feeling in the world to him. Thus both leapt toward their opponents and spun around, ramming their tails into their faces and barking, "FRIGID ELECTRO FLAIL!"

But while Leafeon and Jolteon took in pain from this, they ignored it and leaned backward. They then placed their palms against the mat and flipped upright, Zeraora staring at the yellow fox with confusion until she smirked, showing him that she was indeed fighting seriously now.

As such, she leapt backward into the ropes and pressed up against them, her body conducting electricity. She launched herself off of it like a bullet with her arms pointed forward, screeching, "LIGHTNING BOLT TACKLE!" ramming her palms hard into Vaporeon's gut.

Leafeon, meanwhile, leapt toward Zeraora and rammed her feet into his chest. She then wrapped her arms around him and leapt into the air before she flipped upside down and wrapped her tails around his legs to bind them in place. At that moment, leaves started to form around her body while she spun toward the mat and shouted, "BINDING LEAF TWISTER!"

Zeraora's eyes and mouth went wide when his skull hit the canvas hard and he coughed up blood. Despite how little damage he had taken in up until now, this had dealt considerable pain to him. Thus when Leafeon released him and allowed him to collapse he rocked back and forth and held onto his skull.

Vaporeon looked at this and thought, 'I can't believe it. Both of those were moves Mommy turned into her own. I didn't think they'd actually use them at once.'

Regardless, she shook her head when she realized Jolteon was still pressed up against her, thus she took hold of her wrists and grunted, "You know, you may be fast, but like everyone else from your generation, you've weakened with age."

Thus she forced Jolteon's arms into an X formation and applied enough force to make her spin around and fall on her back. The crowd cheered wildly before Vaporeon once again formed her ice ball and wrapped her tail around the yellow fox's neck. Afterwards, she performed a handstand and squeaked, "ICE FRANKENSTEINER!"

But rather than slamming Jolteon into the mat, she released her hold and allowed her to fly right into Leafeon's back. Thus the tan fox cried out in pain and fell hard on her belly before Zeraora rose to his feet and took many deep breaths.

While Jolteon's change in plans had thrown him off guard at first, there was no way he would allow this to get him down. After all, it was not as if Scorbunny and Blaziken would just allow him and Vaporeon to defeat them. If anything, this was just the training he needed for their next match.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath before his eyes widened. He then formed electricity around his paws and said, "Hey, Vaporeon, I just suddenly remembered the move I used to defeat Golduck. Maybe if we could combine it with your Trampoline Suplex, we could make something on the level of the infamous Muscle Coffin."

The blue fox blinked before she smiled and nodded. A part of her was a tad surprised that he knew about that move considering he seemed to lack knowledge of a lot of famous signature moves, but the idea was certainly a good one. With that in mind, she sped toward Jolteon just in time for her to rise up off of her daughter and whimper, "Sorry, Leafeon."

While Leafeon was able to recover just fine, she had to admit, she was a tad concerned by how normally Jolteon had said this. In fact, the yellow fox often made it her goal to defeat her opponents as quickly as possible since drinking anything other than water during a match was frowned upon. And sure enough, it seemed as if she had started to suffer a bit of fatigue from the lack of coffee.

This was just what Vaporeon needed before she wrapped her arms around her, curled her tail like a spring and launched herself into the air. Before Leafeon could retaliate, Zeraora dashed behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He then leapt high above the ring and flipped her upside-down, planting the claws on his feet into her upper back while he dug the ones on his hands into her ankles. Finally, he wrapped his tail around her neck before Vaporeon leaned backward and placed Jolteon's skull up against her daughter's feet.

"TRAMPOLINE THUNDER CAT DRIVER!" Vaporeon and Zeraora spat before Leafeon's skull was planted into the canvas, Jolteon taking extreme pain from the force applied to her own. Thus both foxes coughed up blood and closed their eyes.

Vaporeon and Zeraora released them and allowed them to collapse before all of the people gathered around cheered wildly. The blue fox and cat breathed heavily and smiled at one-another before the man who had volunteered to be the announcer nodded and held his hand up, exclaiming, "And Vaporeon and Zeraora have won the match! Truly they are worthy of competing in the Ultimate World Team Tournament!"

"Wow, Zeraora, you were incredible!" Vaporeon squeaked with a big grin, "Did I really inspire all of that!?" the cat nodding and replying, "Yeah, of course you did. If it hadn't been for all of your lessons and motivation, I never would have been able to pull that off."

After a few seconds, the blue fox gasped and turned toward her family with concern only for notice that Leafeon had managed to rise to her feet. She took many deep breaths and turned toward them, uttering, "Wow. That random stranger's right," the man uttering, "Actually, my name's Muto," the tan fox continuing, "You really are worthy of being in this tournament."

She then bowed her head to Vaporeon and added, "And you are one awesome cousin," winking at her, the blue fox wondering what that was about. There was no way she knew the truth, right?

Vaporeon then looked down at Jolteon and asked, "Oh, uh, is Great, I mean, Auntie Jolteon gonna be alright?" Leafeon helping the yellow fox up and replying, "She'll be fine. She's just suffering a little burnout right now. All she needs is a full cup of Joe and she'll be back to her old self."

Zeraora smiled and said, "That's good. I'd feel awful if she wound up in the hospital because of us," before taking a deep breath and adding, "Anyway, I think I need a little more fresh air. That took a lot out of me."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Go ahead. You've more than earned it," the cat heading outside before the blue fox thought, 'Wow, to think he's this great because of me. I can't believe it.'

After Zeraora stepped out, he pulled out a handkerchief from under his fur and started to wipe the sweat off of his paws. But just as all seemed right, his eyes widened when he noticed a familiar group of humans before him. The one who stood out the most was a tall boy named Akio.

"I had a feeling you'd be here again," he stated as he gazed upon the cat, one of the girls who hung out with him sighing, "It's not that hard when he's been training here every single day for the last little while."

"Wait, you've been stalking me!?" Zeraora retorted only for Akio to reply, "Well, not really. The truth is, I usually work out at this gym during my free time. It helps to relieve stress, but lately, every time I come here, you and that partner of yours are training. I figured you wouldn't wanna see me in there."

The cat blinked before he sighed, "And I don't blame you," a shorter boy named Taki nodding and stating, "Same here. Ever since that day, you know, a few nights ago, we've been thinking. At the time, we didn't feel like we'd really done anything particularly wrong, so we felt as if our punishment was unjust and that you were just another tool trying to take us down."

A girl with pink hair named Ichigo bit her lower lip and added, "It was wrong for us to abuse you like that. You've lived such a hard life and we only made things worse for you all because you were weak at the time."

"Speaking of which, we saw your fight through the window earlier," a girl with green hair named Kami squealed, "You were so cool! That move you came up with, that was just wow!" Akio nodding and sighing, "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that we're sorry for the way we treated you and we're happy that you're doing as well as you are."

Zeraora blinked and formed a light smile. He then bowed his head and replied, "Um, thank you. It really means a lot to hear you say that," Akio bowing back and saying, "Anyway, I guess you'll be a full time hero now. I'll admit, we'll miss having you at school. But we'll be at the stadium to cheer you on, alright?"

The group talked for a little bit longer as Vaporeon looked outside at this and smiled sweetly. It seemed as if Zeraora's troubles were finally over. And while it was amazing that this had been partly because of her, she felt genuinely happy for him. With that in mind, she took a deep breath and sported a slight look of regret.

'I've only been helping him for my own benefit,' she thought, 'Alright, we still got a few hours of the day left. We got plenty of time to train tomorrow.'

With that in mind, she smiled, stepped outside and said, "Hey, Zeraora, that match took an awful lot out of me. What say we call it a day and spend a little time on the town, eh?"

The cat's eyes widened when he heard that. That shock soon turned to extreme happiness as a big smile formed on his face and sparkles formed in his eyes. And when the blue fox offered to let him choose their activity, he was even more thrilled.

With that in mind, he first decided to go and see the latest animated romance film that had been released to theatres. And while Vaporeon mostly agreed to this just to make Zeraora feel appreciated, she was soon just as swept up in it as he was.

Afterwards, the two went to a local arcade. This was certainly nice as Vaporeon had never been to one before, so the experience was thrilling for her. And after that, the two went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Zeraora sat before Vaporeon with a fried mackerel in front of him along with some fruit punch. Just as he was about to dig in, her took a deep breath and smiled at Vaporeon before he said, "Hey, Vaporeon, there's something I just wanted to tell you."

The blue fox blinked and looked up from her own dish, asking, "What is it?" the cat replying, "These last couple of weeks have been incredible. Really, they have. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of this, but up until now, I had no real direction in life. There were so many days where I wondered what it was all worth. If it weren't for my parents sending me a little bit of money every now and then, I would have had nothing to live for at all. And yet now, you've entered my life, and so have all of your friends. You're all great people and you've given me something to live for."

Vaporeon was about to respond only for him to hold up a finger and add, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, well, thank you for being a friend."

After a few seconds, the blue fox gave Zeraora a big smile and said, "It was no problem at all. Though to be honest-" only to stop herself, shake her head and utter, "Never mind."

Deep down, a part of her wanted to tell the cat why she recruited him in the first place. But how would he respond to that? He was so happy, and she just had this feeling that if she told him she had only used him to fulfil what even she was able to admit was a rather selfish goal, his spirits would be crushed. Perhaps it was best for him not to know.

After taking a bite of her food, she asked, "Okay, so seriously, did you actually mean to quote the famous Andrew Gold song or was that just a coincidence?"

Zeraora's eyes widened briefly before he snickered and broke out into hysterics, a few customers staring at him. But for the first time in his life, he did not care who stared at him. He was far too happy to let it bother him, and soon enough, Vaporeon joined him. There was no doubt the two of them were more than ready for tomorrow's match.


	24. Chapter 24

For the last day before the quarter-finals could begin, all of the teams were hard at work. Scorbunny and Blaziken did their absolute best to make sure they would be a worthy challenge for Vaporeon and Zeraora while Drizzile and Gallade were determined to defeat the team that hospitalized Morgrem and Rolycoly. And of course, Rillaboom and Aipom had worked the hardest seeing as they had easily the toughest opponents for their match.

Machoke and Gardevoir, all the while, were focused on their match with Lucario and Clauncher, though they had made a vow to work extra hard just in case they had to fight the dragon duo. After all, if what Shaymin said about them was correct, the fate of the world could have very well depended on those two being defeated.

Although this would be difficult for sure. As if Dialga and Palkia had not already proven themselves a big enough threat, both were also hard at work in the mountains. They used various rocks as targets for their moves and crushed them with ease. Deep down, they felt this was unnecessary, that they had this tournament in the bag, but at the same time, the blue dragon felt that they could not be too careful.

Though before the day was over, Drizzile and Gallade headed to the hospital. After all, Hitmonchan was supposed to be awake today, and sure enough, when they entered, the boxer had just gotten up out of bed. Upon spotting her husband, her eyes sparkled before she squealed, "Gallade!"

She then ran over to Gallade and held him in a tight embrace. His eyes widened briefly before he smiled and patted her on the back.

"It's so nice to see you in high spirits," Gallade said with a grin, "You really had me worried," Hitmonchan nodding and whimpering, "I'm so sorry. If I was stronger, I could have avoided getting badly hurt."

She pouted only for the green man to sigh, "No, it's fine. As long as you're all better. I just wish I knew who it was who attacked you," before groaning, "It just suddenly occurred to me, we never actually looked for the assailant. What is wrong with us?"

Hitmonchan sighed, "Hey, it's fine. I'm sure if that monster appears again, you'll just beat her up anyway," before groaning, "It's too bad she was wearing a cloak, otherwise I could just tell you what she looks like."

"I was just about to ask about that," Gallade replied before Hitmonchan spotted Drizzile and smiled, saying, "Oh, hey, you were with that crazy grass mouse thing at the sign up booth. Did you come all the way here to see me!?" the chameleon replying, "Yeah."

"That's so sweet!" the boxer squealed before Gallade chuckled, "Well, he mostly came with me out of obligation. See, he's my super-" only to remember how many times he had already put it that way before uttering, "He's my new teammate, Drizzile."

He then looked down and sighed, "Please don't be mad," only for Hitmonchan to stare back and forth between the two. She then smiled, gave her husband a hug and squealed, "If you had dropped out of the tournament because of me, I would have been mad! I'm just happy you have a partner!" before blinking and uttering, "By the way, what day is it? Have you two fought already?"

"Oh yeah, you'll never believe it!" Gallade exclaimed with a big smile, "We're both competing in the tournament quarter-finals!" Hitmonchan's eyes wide with shock while he added, "Yeah! We actually won two matches, an elimination match and the first round!"

Drizzile nodded with a big smile before Hitmonchan squealed, "Yay!" giving Gallade another hug, "I knew you could do it, because you're my super awesome husband! I bet you're the one calling all the shots, right!?" Gallade about to explain how Drizzile had done most of the work only for the chameleon to chuckle, "Yep. This team wouldn't work nearly as well without his amazing skills."

Gallade stared briefly at his partner with a look of shock on his face. As if Drizzile was not an amazing enough partner, to think he had just given the green man that much credit without a second thought. He would definitely have to take him and Hitmonchan out for a huge celebration after the second round ended since he just knew they would win.

Either way, all three kept up the conversation for a while until they were ready to head home. Of course Hitmonchan joined them, though now Drizzile would have to sleep elsewhere. After all, the couple had been away from each other for about two weeks. It would have been wrong for the chameleon to rob them of any time they could afford to spend together.

The following morning, everyone was assembled at Nissan Stadium. Beedrill, Butterfree and Nori were all seated behind their podium while the wasp exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it's just about time for the quarter-finals to begin! The first round was exciting with our newcomers really impressing us! But we can only expect round two to be even more amazing!"

Needless to say, everyone was pumped with Hitmonchan seated next to her husband, saying, "It's a good thing I didn't miss the whole thing. I can't wait to see your new friends in action."

As it so happened, the green man had introduced the heroes of Edmonton, or at least those who were still conscious, to the boxer shortly after they arrived. It was a shame Morgrem and Rolycoly were still in the hospital, but even so, Hitmonchan was happy to meet those who she could.

Aipom smiled and said, "Well, you're certainly in for something special. Seriously, these guys are awesome," patting Rillaboom on the shoulder as the gorilla grinned and blushed lightly.

All the while, Vaporeon and Zeraora were preparing in a training area. Both had just finished working out with a few punching bags before the blue fox took a deep breath and thought, 'Alright, come on, Vaporeon. You got this. You beat her once, you can do it again,' patting her cheeks.

Zeraora blinked and asked, "Hey, are you okay?" Vaporeon chuckling, "Of course I am," laughing nervously. However, she tensed up when the cat rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, it's okay to be nervous. You're about to fight a really good friend in front of a huge crowd. I'm feeling a tad nervous about that myself."

The blue fox blinked and nodded before she took a deep breath. She then smiled at him and said, "Yeah. We can do this. Let's dazzle the crowd together."

During this time, Scorbunny delivered a barrage of kicks into a sandbag, using her flames to turn the inside into glass and make it better for building strength. Blaziken smiled and said, "I gotta hand it to you, I thought you'd be at least a little nervous about this."

"Well, I am," the rabbit replied, "But I've also been raised never to take any opponent lightly no matter what. I'm sure Vaporeon would be insulted if I held back."

"That's a good mindset to have," the chicken replied, "I remember back in the last tag team tournament when I teamed up with Gardevoir in the first round, we got Smeargle as one of our first opponents. Not only is he a really good friend of the Beaulieu family, you'd never believe it, but he was a total weakling back then. Apparently, the only reason he graduated was because his opponent's back broke. I'm not even kidding."

"Oh my god!" Scorbunny squeaked, "I find that so hard to believe! He gave Gallade and Drizzile such a hard time!" Blaziken nodding and replying, "Yeah, you can thank Gardevoir for that. Because of his lack of strength, she held back against him and it made him go insane. I can guarantee, if you did the same to Vaporeon, she'd at least take offence to that. Nothing's more insulting than taking an opponent lightly."

Scorbunny nodded and said, "Well, I doubt she'd really take offence to it, but I would never take her lightly. You've seen how tough she is, right?" Blaziken nodding before she and the rabbit resumed their preparation. Needless to say, both teams were more than ready for this.

Once the time had passed, Butterfree stated, "Alright, folks, it's now time for the second round to truly begin! In the red corner, we have two newbies who have truly proven themselves to be quite the fighters! They both defeated Scolipede and Geodude despite so many things going against them and they come here to amaze us even more! Give it up for the Atlantic Catfish!"

The crowd went wild when Zeraora and Vaporeon bounded toward the ring on all fours. The blue fox proceeded to slide forward on her belly like a seal before the cat leapt onto her back and used her like a surfboard. He then leapt off of her, flipped vertically and landed perfectly on his feet, the crowd going wild while Vaporeon propelled herself up with her tail and performed a handstand.

Rillaboom grinned and shouted, "Looking good, guys!" Zeraora blushing lightly as Hitmonchan clapped and said, "That was pretty cool. Just think, we could have tried something like that," before looking down only for Gallade to pat her on the shoulder and kiss her on the cheek.

Jolteon and Leafeon sat in the back and held up a sign to support Vaporeon. The tan fox even blew into a noisemaker and squealed, "Kick their asses, cousin!" Jolteon squealing, "You go, Vaporeon! Boo everyone else!"

Vaporeon blushed from embarrassment while those around the other two foxes stared awkwardly at them. Nevertheless, she certainly appreciated the support, thus she smiled and waved at them.

"And in the blue corner are two powerful fighters who really went all-out against Alcremie and Stonjourner," Beedrill stated, "One is a long-time hero of Tokyo and the other is yet another newcomer who has surprised us all. Though most of that is because of just how perfect of a fit she is. Everyone, I give you the Flying Phoenixes!"

The crowd was truly amazed when Blaziken and Scorbunny rode toward the ring on the backs of rented horses while western music played in the background. No one knew where the horses had come from or how they had been snuck into the area, but this was truly a sight to behold.

Once the heroes were close to the ring, they leapt off the horses' backs and landed perfectly against the ring. The cheers only got louder while Machoke and Gardevoir both clapped and squealed, "That was your best entrance yet, Blaziken!"

The chicken chuckled and said, "That was a good idea, Scorbunny," the rabbit nodding and replying, "Yeah, I figured after my football theme, I'd go with something that's more your style. It's the least I can do, right?"

"You didn't have to, but I appreciate it greatly," Blaziken replied with a grin before pounding the rabbit's fist. Afterwards, the owner of the horses blew into a whistle and signalled them to return to her before she waved to the heroes. Of course, both bowed their heads to her in appreciation.

But before the match could begin for good, Scorbunny approached Vaporeon and held out her hand, saying, "Hey, here's to an awesome rematch," the fox staring for a few seconds. She could see just how serious the rabbit was about this, thus she formed a serious smile, nodded and shook her hand while the crowd cheered once more.

Raboot watched this and thought, 'I just know Scorbunny will win. Not only is she part of our family, but she's teamed up with Blaziken. These two don't stand a chance.'

Once both teams took to their sides of the ring, Nori nodded and exclaimed, "Without further ado, let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Blaziken and Scorbunny raced toward Zeraora and Vaporeon respectively then leapt toward the duo with their feet pointed forward. The blue fox smirked and asked, "Ready, partner?" before Zeraora nodded and replied, "Hell yeah!"

Both that, Vaporeon formed her ice sphere and swung her tail forward, shouting, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!" Zeraora forming electricity around his own tail and doing the same before her barked, "LIGHTNING SLASH!"

The Flying Phoenix's eyes widened when the ice hit Scorbunny's foot and sent her backward. However, Zeraora showed more results when his tail not only sent a surge of electricity through Blaziken but put a small cut in her foot. Thus a tiny bit of blood trickled out as she fell on her back.

Vaporeon breathed heavily and turned toward Zeraora who grinned at her. The blue fox soon returned the gesture and nodded before she flipped vertically toward Blaziken with her ice still on her tail and barked, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

She then struck the chicken's gut and propelled herself behind her before wrapping the tail around her neck while the crowd cheered wildly. All the while, Zeraora raced toward Scorbunny with sparks flying from his claws, Jolteon and Leafeon both grinning from ear to ear. They could not have been happier to see the duo perform so well.

"Well, this is certainly a better start than last time!" Nori stated, "While The Atlantic Catfish really struggled before, now they're on fire! Zeraora's making much more use of his electric abilities, which really makes me wonder if he knew how to use them before or not."

Rillaboom bit her lower lip and uttered, "I really want to cheer for those two right now, but I also don't wanna take sides," Machoke sighing, "I know what you mean. There were quite a few of those matches in the last tournament too."

"I think in a situation like this, it's best to just be happy for both teams," Gardevoir stated before Gallade shrugged and replied, "When she's right, she's right."

But just as Zeraora was ready to strike Scorbunny, the rabbit smirked, placed her hands against the mat and pushed herself up. Her timing was perfect as she planted her feet hard into the cat's gut. Thus he winced and allowed her to shift her lower body upward and boost herself into the air, barking, "ROARING VOLCANO!"

As the name suggested, her feet caught flame as she rammed her heels hard into the cat's chin. Thus he already coughed up a bit of blood and flew into the air. Scorbunny did not let her assault end there when she leapt into the air and used a roundhouse to send him careening toward Vaporeon.

The blue fox's eyes widened when the cat landed hard against her gut. This caused her to cough up a bit of phloem before releasing Blaziken. The chicken grinned at Scorbunny and gave her a thumb up before she lifted up Zeraora and took hold of his ears, propelling herself up into the air and shifting behind him.

The crowd watched in anticipation while Scorbunny sent an axe kick into Vaporeon's gut to keep her from interrupting. Thus Zeraora was at Blaziken's mercy when she lit her feet on fire and spat, "BLAZE KICK!" ramming them both into his back. Thus he cried out in pain and fell flat on his face.

Cheers flooded the entire area while Drizzile uttered, "I knew they were gonna take this seriously. I had a feeling neither Vaporeon nor Scorbunny would hold back, but I didn't think they'd go all out like this. They're really taking this seriously."

Vaporeon slowly rose to her feet and breathed heavily before she looked at Zeraora and gasped, "Are you alright!?" a look of horror on her face. After all of Zeraora's improvement, even against a friend, she could not bare to see him take in this much pain after only delivering one hit. And sure enough, Leafeon and Jolteon could not believe this either.

It seemed that Zeraora thought this as well when slowly pushed himself up and grunted, "Well, good to see you two really are as serious about this as I'd hoped. But don't think I'll go down so easily. I've finally mastered my electric powers, so even though I consider you friends, Vaporeon and I will win this match."

Vaporeon beamed bright and breathed a sigh of relief. However, Blaziken would not simply allow the cat to get the upper hand, thus she raced toward him with her fist raised. But unlike before, Zeraora was completely prepared, thus he covered his forearms in electricity, folded them in front of his face and blocked the incoming blow.

Once again, Blaziken felt electricity course through her veins, and while she tried her best to ignore it, it still caught her off guard just long enough for Zeraora to send an X-shaped slash into her midsection. Small cuts formed on her while the cat barked, "LIGHTNING DAGGERS!"

The chicken winced but managed to avoid letting this hurt her too much before she grabbed hold of Zeraora's arms. She then pulled on them and forced them into an X formation. But while this certainly hurt, the cat did not wish to let a submission hold get to him, thus he once again covered his tail in electricity and jabbed it into Blaziken's midsection.

All the while, Vaporeon and Scorbunny both seemed evenly matched. The blue fox whipped her tail forward only for the rabbit to counter with a variety of kicks. But after a while, the rabbit came up with an idea and leapt into the air after the fourteenth attempt. She then latched her feet onto the tail and shifted them backwards thus causing Vaporeon to lose her balance and fall on her back.

Zeraora noticed this and gasped, turning away from Blaziken just long enough to fall victim to a kick to his cheek. He stumbled backward while the chicken quipped, "Never turn your back to an opponent!" kneeling down and sweeping her leg into his ankles. This caused him to trip and fall on his back before Blaziken wrapped her arms and legs around his right leg and started to twist it, barking, "TORCH FAMILY SPECIAL!"

Sure enough, Vaporeon was in a similar position when Scorbunny latched onto her tail and used the same move. Only she had her teeth planted into the tip, a big smile on her face while she pulled back. When the blue fox noticed this, she frowned and grunted, "Sorry, Scorbunny, but like you, I'm not holding back!"

Thus she formed her water sphere around her tail only for the rabbit to release her teeth from the tip and move her head away, squealing, "Did you really think I'd let you catch me off guard with your ice ball? I've watched you fight more than enough times to know you'd try that!"

The fox's eyes widened while Nori stated, "And it would seem Vaporeon cannot break free from Scorbunny's hold, though how amazing is that!? It's one thing for her to be able to use so many of Blaziken's signature moves, but to think someone as small as her can even pull off a submission hold even some of the mightiest of fighters can't pull off!"

"You know, I never quite understood that," Beedrill replied, "It doesn't look that hard to pull off," Nori replying, "Well, yeah, you could probably catch someone in a hold like that easily enough, but it does require a certain muscle mass to make it fully effective. The Torch family just happens to have that kind of muscle."

To make matters worse for Vaporeon, she had never seen Scorbunny use this move before. After all, the vast majority of the rabbit's techniques involved kicking. However, it was at this moment that the blue fox realized that Nori was right. Sure, the hold Scorbunny had on her was effective, but it also lacked a certain level of strength, and when the rabbit removed her teeth from the tip, it lost some of it.

With that in mind, Vaporeon smirked and said, "I may not be able to strike you with my ice in this position, but I can still fight back," before she placed her hands against the mat and pushed her body up and pulled off a perfect handstand. The crowd cheered, Scorbunny's eyes wide with shock when Vaporeon leapt toward Blaziken with the rabbit still attached to her. She spun vertically while all of her friends could not believe what they were seeing.

"BOUNCING BUNNY BALL!" Vaporeon exclaimed before she rammed Scorbunny's back into Blaziken's gut. Thus the chicken gasped in pain and released her hold on Zeraora. The cat breathed a sigh of relief and rose to his feet, he and Vaporeon distancing themselves from their opponents.

The area erupted with cheers and applause for the blue fox while Machoke uttered, "Damn, that was impressive. Has she always been able to use moves like that?" Rillaboom replying, "Honestly, this is the first time I've ever seen her pull off something like that."

Vaporeon smiled lightly and panted, "See, Scorbunny? I'm not holding back!" the Flying Phoenixes rising to their feet before Scorbunny nodded and replied, "I can see that. That was really impressive."

For some strange reason, her heart skipped a beat after she said that, but why? Whatever the case, she still would not allow the Atlantic Catfish to come out on top, thus she looked back and forth between the duo and thought hard about her next move. After a few seconds, she smiled and nodded at Blaziken, the chicken grinning and giving her a thumb up.

With that in mind, both raced toward them while Blaziken held her arm out. She then took hold of Scorbunny's wrist and held her up so now both arms were aimed at the Atlantic Catfish's necks, Blaziken's striking the cat while the blue fox was hit by Scorbunny's.

But shortly after the Atlantic Catfish took in the double clothesline, Vaporeon blinked when she noticed something off. While the Zeraora had taken in a fairly good amount of damage, the blue fox was able to ignore the pain dealt to her neck, thus she lifted up her tail and held it gently against the cat's back to keep him from falling.

Scorbunny tensed up before Vaporeon smirked and dealt two karate chops to her shoulders. When Zeraora saw this, he regained his own focus and smirked before he formed electric spheres around his paws and balled them up into fists. With that, he unleashed a barrage of rapid punches into a spellbound Blaziken's face and barked, "PLASMA FISTS!"

The crowd continued to be amazed while Hitmonchan grinned and squealed, "Oh yeah, now that's my kinda move!" Gallade staring awkwardly at her while she chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

After enough damage had been dealt and Blaziken started to look a tad winded, Vaporeon formed her ice once more and asked, "How's about we try that move that failed before? I think it might actually work this time."

Zeraora nodded and replied, "I think you might be right," electricity surrounding his tail. He and Vaporeon both leapt vertically toward their opponents and exclaimed, "FROZEN THUNDER BALL!"

Both then cupped their tails together, thus the electricity covered Vaporeon's ice. Scorbunny and Blaziken coughed up blood when the ice struck them both, the ball just big enough to hit each one's side at the same time.

But just as it seemed as if the Atlantic Catfish had truly won, Blaziken spread out her legs and held her ground while she reached out her hand and grabbed hold of Scorbunny. Much like Vaporeon, she stopped her partner from falling, took hold of the rabbit's ears and distanced herself from the other two.

Scorbunny took many deep breaths with her eyes wide open while Blaziken wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead and said, "Damn, those two are good. You hanging in there alright, partner?" When she turned to face the rabbit, she blinked and uttered, "Partner?"

Scorbunny continued to breathe for a few seconds before she blinked, looked up at Blaziken and asked, "Wait, what?" before she shook her head, patted her cheeks and grunted, "Right, the match! Sorry, that was just a really powerful move!"

Blaziken nodded with a smile and replied, "Yeah, that it was. I can see why Vaporeon's been a long time ally of yours. That was an incredible counter."

While Scorbunny certainly could not argue with that, there was one thing weighing on her mind. Those last two counters that Vaporeon had pulled off felt as if they were partly the rabbit's fault. First she had managed to use Scorbunny's own version of the Torch Family Special against her because she lacked the muscle required to make the move, let alone any submission hold, work entirely in her favour. And when the blue fox managed to counter their clothesline, it was because the rabbit's arms were easily the weakest parts of her body.

Blaziken soon realized that herself, thus she smiled at Scorbunny and said, "Hey, it's alright. Don't beat yourself up. I should have thought twice before having you try moves like that. Let's just stick with kicks for now, alright?"

Scorbunny blinked, nodded and replied, "Right, of course," as Zeraora and Vaporeon prepared themselves for more. While Scorbunny certainly would have been fine if Vaporeon won, there was no way she would make it this easy for her.


	25. Chapter 25

While Vaporeon and Zeraora had gotten the upper hand, Blaziken was not about to let Scorbunny go down so easily. After all, she knew how much the rabbit had looked forward to this match. As such, she was content focusing on moves that primarily required kicking for the time being.

With that in mind, she smirked and said, "That combo move they used earlier was pretty sweet, but we can do better, right?" Scorbunny nodding before she and the chicken linked arms. They then leapt backward into the ropes and lit their feet on fire, Vaporeon frowning and grunting, "Don't look now, Zeraora, but I think I know what they're about to use. On my mark, jump."

The cat nodded only for Blaziken to wink at Scorbunny, she and the rabbit tilting their lower bodies upward and launching themselves into the air. The crowd stared in shock before both spun vertically toward their opponents and shouted, "INFERNO BATTLE AXE!"

Sure enough, Zeraora took Blaziken's foot to his skull while Vaporeon succumbed to Scorbunny's. Both gritted their teeth with their eyes wide opened and fell hard on their chins. Thus Blaziken mounted herself onto the cat's back, folded his legs into a figure-four and pulled back on them for a Texas Cloverleaf. All the while, Scorbunny wrapped her legs around Vaporeon's head and applied a firm grip to her neck.

While standard submission holds may not have been the rabbit's strong point, any move that only required her legs was easy for her to pull off. Thus this alone proved far more effective than what she had used earlier, Vaporeon grunting and attempting to pry her feet off.

The crowd cheered while Butterfree stated, "And with one fake-out, the Flying Phoenixes have managed to get the upper hand back. Though I'm a little confused. How is it that this move that requires only feet is somehow stronger than a move that had Scorbunny's hands adding to it?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Beedrill replied with a shrug of his shoulders, Drizzile stating, "I think I know why. It's because when Scorbunny used the Torch Family Special earlier, she had to put just as much focus on her hands as she did her legs, thus she wasn't able to apply as much strength with her legs as she is right now."

"I was just about to say that," Rillaboom uttered only for Aipom to say, "Still, I'm really surprised. Honestly, I'm with you, Drizzile. I didn't think this match would be this intense."

"I kinda did," Gallade replied with his arms folded behind his head, "After all, nothing's more insulting to a fighter than the opponent giving them a handicap. I'm sure Vaporeon and Scorbunny are each thinking that if she holds back, the other will feel offended. They're really letting each other know just how serious this is while also working well alongside their partners."

Gardevoir nodded and sighed, "He's right. I learned that the hard way," Machoke ruffling her hair only for it to straighten in seconds.

Zeraora refused to let Blaziken defeat him, though, and when he saw Vaporeon struggle, he knew he would need to help her soon. Thus he sent electricity into his tail and lifted it up only for Blaziken to notice this and leap off of his back in time to avoid it. Then with Zeraora distracted, the chicken lit her feet on fire, planted them into his back and barked, "BLAZE KICK ANVIL!"

The cat coughed up blood with his eyes and mouth wide open when Vaporeon gasped and thought, 'Wait, there's a more logical way out of this hold. What was I thinking?'

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and pushed hard against the side of the mat to the left of her. She then used all her might to push her body upward before flipping over. Scorbunny's eyes widened as this caused her legs to loosen, Vaporeon smirking and squealing, "SEAL LOG ROLL!"

The crowd watched while she continued to roll to the side, Scorbunny's legs getting more and more loose by the seconds. After the blue fox had rolled for the seventh time, she managed to slid out of the hold and right herself up. She then turned around, formed her ice ball and rammed it into the rabbit's cheek as she barked, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!"

Scorbunny coughed up blood and flew sideways before Scorbunny leapt toward Blaziken. But just as she was about to strike the chicken, the rabbit managed to place her right hand against the mat and stop herself from falling against it. She then lit her feet on fire, flung herself toward Vaporeon and yelled, "BURNING ROCKET!"

Vaporeon's eyes and mouth widened with shock when she took the rabbit's heel to her back. And when Blaziken saw this, she smirked and sent a roundhouse into the blue fox's neck, causing her to cough up blood of her own. Thus she hobbled back and forth slightly before she dropped to her knees and fell face-first into the mat.

Jolteon and Leafeon stared in shock, the yellow fox taking a sip of coffee while she tried her hardest not to jump to conclusions. After all, there was always a chance that Vaporeon might be able to get up from that.

However, she and Zeraora would need to hurry when Nori started the ten count, Beedrill exclaiming, "Wow! the Atlantic Catfish certainly put up a good fight, but after Scorbunny and Blaziken's hard kicks, both seem to be down for the count! Let's see if they can rise back to their feet!"

When Nori reached four seconds, Zeraora started to twitch and planted his hands against the mat. He breathed heavily and pushed himself up before the area went silent. Blaziken and Scorbunny both stared wide-eyed as the cat looked down at his partner and gulped.

'No, I can't let her down,' he thought, 'Not after all that hard work. After all, the others have been able to take over while their partners were down before. I should be able to do that as well, even against a couple of friends. Besides, after all of my improvements, it would be a real shame to lose now.'

However, since Zeraora was a friend, Blaziken was more than willing to play fair now. Thus she took a deep breath and said, "Hey, Scor, that was an awesome save back there, but you can take a breather if you want."

Scorbunny was about to protest before she suddenly remembered who their opponents were. Thus she nodded only for Zeraora to bite his lower lip. Deep down, he wanted to accept this. After all, with just one opponent, it would be a lot easier for him to keep the Flying Phoenixes busy until Vaporeon could recover. But at the same time, he had worked really hard to finally master his electricity, and if he could do a good job against both by himself, he could truly prove himself worthy of being a hero.

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "No, it's fine," the Flying Phoenixes staring at him, "This is a team match, so you should both fight me at once. I can handle it, don't worry."

The entire area went silent as even the announcers had no idea how to respond to this. All of the cat's friends stared at him like he was crazy. It was not as if he had anything to prove to them, so there seemed to be no reason for him to do this.

As such, Blaziken took a deep breath and asked, "Are you absolutely sure about this? You know Scorbunny and I won't go easy on you, right?" the rabbit nodding before Zeraora clenched his fists and grunted, "Just come at me, and give me all you got!"

With that in mind, the chicken and rabbit both nodded at one-another and raced toward Zeraora. And of course, the cat knew he would need to pull out all the stops, thus he focused hard and formed electricity around his forearms, legs and tail. And when spheres appeared around his fists, he knew he was ready.

However, his eyes widened when Blaziken swerved to the right and sent a roundhouse into his neck. Scorbunny added to this by delivering a hard kick to his midsection as the crowd gasped. As if that was not enough, Blaziken leapt toward the ropes and pressed up against them while Scorbunny leapt into the air and planted both her feet into the cat's gut.

This caused him to back up before Blaziken bounced toward him with her feet out and engulfed in flames. And when she was close enough, she sent them both into his back and shouted, "ROARING PHOENIX!"

But while Zeraora had coughed up blood, everyone was shocked when he spread his legs out and stopped himself from falling. Gallade stared at this and uttered, "Did anyone else just see that?" Hitmonchan nodding with a look of shock.

Zeraora took a deep breath and said, "Not bad, but as I said, I can handle this." He swung his tail upward and put a light cut along Blaziken's front as he shouted, "LIGHTNING SLASH!" This caused her to fall on her back before he reached toward Scorbunny and exclaimed, "PLASMA FISTS!"

The rabbit leapt backward and held herself up with her hands. She then sent her feet forward and matched blows with the incoming fists. But thanks to the electricity, pain coursed through her each time she blocked a strike, and eventually, this caused her to lower her guard. Thus Zeraora wrapped his arms around her and leapt high above the canvas.

The crowd cheered wildly while he looked back and noticed Blaziken rise to her feet. Thus he planted the claws on his paws into Scorbunny's shoulders and wrapped his legs around, jabbing the ones on his toes into her lower back. Finally, he leaned backward and descended diagonally toward Blaziken just in time for her eyes and beak to widen.

"FELINE SUPLEX!" he shouted before he rammed Scorbunny's skull hard into Blaziken's forehead. Thus both Flying Phoenixes coughed up blood before the chicken fell on her back again, Zeraora releasing his hold on Scorbunny and allowing her to collapse.

The crowd stared silently for a few seconds, Machoke and the others unable to believe what they had just seen. But soon, the area erupted with cheers and applause for the cat, Jolteon grinning wide and clapping at the speed of a machine gun, squealing, "Wow, that was amazing! You are so cool, Zeraora, truly a worthy student if I ever saw one!" She then held her hands against her side and nodded multiple times while Leafeon stared awkwardly at her.

At that moment, Vaporeon finally recovered and pushed herself up. She breathed heavily before she noticed Blaziken and Scorbunny both on their backs, her eyes and mouth wide with shock as she looked at Zeraora. The cat turned to face her and breathed a sigh of relief.

Nori started the ten count while Beedrill exclaimed, "And in a truly stunning display, Zeraora seems to have taken out the Flying Phoenixes while Vaporeon was out cold! But could this really be it!?"

As happy as Vaporeon was to see that he had done well on his own, this still felt off. And sure enough, she could see Blaziken and Scorbunny start to twitch when Nori reached seven seconds. Thus she bit her lower lip before barking, "Wait, Zeraora, they're gonna rise back to their feet soon! We need to set up a team finisher now!"

Zeraora turned and saw the duo moving, thus he nodded and sprinted toward Blaziken. He then lifted her up by her legs and leapt into the air. He covered all of his claws in electricity and planted them into her ankles and upper back, Vaporeon wrapping her arms around Scorbunny. She curled her tail like a spring and launched herself high above the ring, all with a look of uncertainty in her eyes.

Rillaboom and Drizzile both watched in stunned silence while the others tried their hardest to accept this. After all, this was a match between friends. They would be happy no matter who won.

Scorbunny just happened to open up her eyes in time to feel her skull pressed up against Blaziken's feet. And when she realized Vaporeon's arms were wrapped around her, she blinked before a smile formed on her face as she said, "Good job, buddy. I think you've got us beat now."

Seeing the rabbit act like such a good sport even in her current predicament put Vaporeon's mind at ease just a little bit, but at the same time, she could not help but feel like she might have been rash. Zeraora, however, was far too caught up in the moment, thus he grinned and said, "You were a great opponent, Blaziken," the chicken replying, "You too. Good luck in the rest of the tournament."

Thus she closed her eyes and allowed her to skull to hit the canvas hard while Zeraora exclaimed, "TRAMPOLINE THUNDER CAT DRIVER!"

While it was odd that Blaziken was the only one of the Flying Phoenixes to cough up blood, it was still clear that both had taken in far too much damage when the Atlantic Catfish released them and allowed them to collapse. Thus Nori started the ten count again while the crowd watched in silence. Vaporeon looked down at Scorbunny and took many deep breaths, a conflicted look in her eyes. But when Zeraora smiled at her, she returned the gesture before Nori reach ten seconds.

The woman rang the bell and shouted, "And that concludes this very intense match! While it was between friends, neither team held back, and in the end, the Atlantic Catfish will advance to the semi-finals!"

The area broke out into heavy cheers and applause, Gardevoir and Machoke just glad it was all over. Jolteon and Leafeon, especially, were ecstatic. It seemed all their help had paid off in the end.

Zeraora rose his arms in the air with a big smile on his face while Vaporeon held one arm up with a light smile. Now the cat could not help but wonder if something was up. After all, she wanted to defeat Scorbunny and she did, yet she did not look too happy about it.

Either way, she felt relieved when the rabbit managed to rise to her feet. She took many deep breaths and smiled, saying, "Well, guess we know who the better hero is after all, eh?" rubbing her head.

Vaporeon bit her lower lip and uttered, "Uh, yeah, I guess we do," chuckling lightly while Zeraora looked at her again. After a few seconds, he stroked his chin. While he was unsure of this before, now he could tell that something was off, but now was hardly the time to question it.

Thus he smiled and patted the blue fox on the shoulder, giving her a thumb up and a grin. Scorbunny took a deep breath and said, "I gotta say, that was one awesome team move. Guess you two must have practised that earlier, eh?"

"Yeah," Vaporeon replied, "It was actually a spur of the moment sort of thing. I'm honestly surprised it works as well as it does all things considered."

After a few seconds, all three heroes looked down at Blaziken with concern. Vaporeon blinked and turned to Zeraora before she asked, "Um, you did hold back a little bit, didn't you?" the cat gasping, "Oh, shit, were we supposed to do that!?"

Luckily, though, Blaziken was very strong, thus she finally opened her eyes and coughed a bit. She slowly sat up and breathed heavily. She shot the Atlantic Catfish a grin and said, "Damn, that really was something else. If I had to lose this tournament, I guess I'm glad I lost to you two."

With that, Scorbunny helped her up before she held out her hand. Zeraora's eyes sparkled when she shook his first. She then held her hand out to Vaporeon who gently took it only for the chicken to smirk and say, "Aw, come on, you can be more firm than that."

The blue fox nodded and increased her grip while more cheers could be heard from the crowd, Beedrill stating, "And even after all of that, their friendship will not waver! Moments like these are what we live for, folks!" Butterfree sighing, "Speak for yourself."

All four heroes were ready to return to the bleachers when Beedrill added, "And as you all know, the next two teams will go up soon, though since there are only four matches today, we will take a twenty minute break instead. Afterwards, we'll have an hour long recess before the second half of this round can begin."

Drizzile and Gallade nodded before they rose from their seats. And as they passed by Vaporeon and the others, the chameleon gave the blue fox a grin while Gallade smiled at all of them. Hitmonchan decided to join him in the training room simply for moral support, though she also wished to help with their entrance since she had been robbed of her chance to compete.

Once Vaporeon took a seat with the others, Rillaboom grinned and said, "That was a really good match. You were all amazing out there," Aipom adding, "Especially you, Zeraora. You've really improved."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Vaporeon's help," Zeraora said with a smile, "She's the glue that holds us together."

"I can believe that," Scorbunny replied with a nod while Gardevoir squeaked, "I'm just glad we can still be friends after all of that!"

"Damn straight," Machoke replied with a grin, "I guess now we'll have to go all out against Lucario, eh, honey?" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "Yeah. I'll make sure you get an official victory over him today."

In the training room, Gallade and Drizzile were hard at work on an entrance that Hitmonchan had suggested. As it so happened, this was something she and her husband had planned in advance, but due to the fact that she had been knocked out, they did not have that chance.

"So you're absolutely sure you want me doing this," Drizzile uttered before the boxer sighed, "Of course. It's the least I can do after you helped my dearly beloved make it this far," pinching the chameleon's cheek, "Besides, are you gonna rob me of this chance to see our masterpiece in action?"

Gallade shrugged and replied, "She's got a point. Lords knows when we'll get a chance to do this again," as Drizzile nodded with a serious look in his eyes and stated, "I'll make you proud."

Once all twenty minutes passed, Beedrill stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's just about time for the second match to begin! That was an amazing first bout, but we still have more to cover!"

Butterfree nodded and stated, "In the blue corner are two heroes who have really surprised us so far! One is a French hero who up until this point has not had that great of a track record, but his spirit and determination has truly paid off! And his partner is a fighter not many of us know about but has certainly proven himself a force to be reckoned with! Give it up for the Aquatic Katana!"

The crowd cheered as a dramatic melody played in the background. Gallade and Drizzile both entered the area in full boxing gear and marched toward the ring while punching the air. And when they got close to the ring, Gallade extended his hands before Drizzile leapt atop them and allowed himself to be launched into the air. He then landed perfectly against the ring with his arms out as Gallade leapt over him and landed on his shoulders.

The crowd was truly amazed while Drizzile gritted his teeth and whimpered, "Could you get off my shoulders, please?" Gallade nodding and leaping off, uttering, "Right, sorry. See, Hitmonchan can actually handle my weight. That's why we came up with... yeah."

Hitmonchan, all the while, beamed bright and gave them a round of applause. She could not believe that had worked out as well as it did as the Aquatic Katana removed their boxing gear and tossed it out of the ring.

Gardevoir giggled at this and said, "That was your idea, wasn't it, Hitmonchan?" the boxer nodding and replying, "You know it."

Rillaboom and Scorbunny both grinned at this and cheered for Drizzile while Vaporeon gave a light clap. She then blinked and said, "Hey, if you don't mind, I need to use the washroom. Can you save my spot?"

Zeraora nodded and replied, "Allow me," with a grin before she got up and headed off. The cat simply rested his tail on the seat while Machoke blinked and uttered, "She should have gone during the break."

"And in the red corner are two reptiles with a rocking style!" Beedrill stated, "With their electric personalities and skills, they are the Electric Metal Heads!"

All went silent among the crowd as smoke seeped from the western entrance into the area. Toxtricity and Sutorinda stood there with strings made of electricity reaching from their knees to their shoulders. And of course, both created a melody by strumming them while they advanced toward the ring.

"I gotta say, I've been looking forward to this day," Toxtricity sang, "The day I'd get to face Tokyo's local punching bag! But it seems you might be worth our time. Don't you dare let us down! If you're as weak as your rep says, then we will surely frown!"

Gallade blinked while Sutorinda turned to her brother and remarked, "You give him too much credit. You and I know that was a fluke! That loser didn't deserve that, it makes me wanna puke! It was that disgusting lizard who did most of the work! If anyone is worth our time, it's that slimy jerk!"

"Did she just call me a jerk?" Drizzile uttered with his eye twitching, both lizards belting, "No matter how they perform, no matter what they do, it's obvious who the winners are, oh yes, that much is true!

We are the entertainment, we are the rising stars! By the time all this is over, the world will know just who we are!"

They ended their song as the cheers got louder, Machoke folding his arms and grunting, "I really don't like those two," Hitmonchan pounding her fists together and grunting, "Agreed! Did you hear what they said about my beloved!? I wish that was me in that ring! I'd fuck them up!"

Gardevoir simply smiled and said, "I'm not worried. Gallade and Drizzile will come out on top and make them eat their words, I just know it."

Zeraora nodded and looked at the empty seat next to him. He hoped Vaporeon would hurry. After all, she and the cat would have to face the winning team, so it would have been a shame if she missed the entire match.

But while Vaporeon had indeed gone to the bathroom, she did not go for the reason everyone thought. She was currently in front of a mirror as she splashed water on her face and took many deep breaths with a look of regret in her eyes. But just what was it that ate away at her so much?


	26. Chapter 26

Gallade and Drizzile were both more than ready to take on Toxtricity and Sutorinda. After what the lizards had done to Morgrem and Rolycoly, the Aquatic Katana would not hold back. Thus Nori nodded and stated, "Well, folks, it would seem the combatants are set. Let us begin."

As soon as she rang the bell, Drizzile held his ground with his eyes narrowed. Since Gallade knew the chameleon often had good ideas, he whispered, "Alright, what's the plan?"

"I'm actually not sure," Drizzile replied, "See, these two allowed Morgrem and Rolycoly to hit them because they thought they were weak. And while they seem to look down on you, they think awfully highly of me," the green man lowering his eyelids, "I think at the very least, they'll probably want to 'share the glory' with you and, as they put it, 'show you mercy'. My recommendation would be to take full advantage of that and show them just how strong you can truly be."

Gallade nodded with a big smile and said, "Hell yeah," before he raced toward both lizards with his arms out. Just as expected, both of them allowed him to strike them in their necks and knock them on their backs. Drizzile of course took full advantage of that as he leapt high into the air and lathered his feet in water. He then formed two blades on his soles and barked, "AQUATIC ICE SKATES!"

Sutorinda cried out in pain when he landed on her gut and put two big cuts in it. He then leapt off, formed water around his hands and morphed it into his katana. He then pointed them downward, plunged them into her shoulders and shouted, "AQUATIC ASSASSINATION!"

While this went on, Gallade mounted himself onto Toxtricity's gut and sent a barrage of punches into his face. He then leapt up before the yellow lizard could even attempt to fight back and latched his legs around his neck. The crowd was truly amazed when the green man lifted Toxtricity up and leaned backward, planting his skull into the canvas.

'Now to show you why it was a mistake to let me attack first, you arrogant douchebag!' Gallade thought before he sent a rolling sobat into the back of Toxtricity's head after he rose back to his feet. This left the yellow lizard distracted just long enough for Gallade to cross his arms, stand on the tips of his toes and spin toward him like a twister.

"SWORDS DANCE!" the green man yelled before he struck Toxtricity and circled around him, putting multiple cuts all over him with his arm blades. Cheers erupted all throughout the stadium while blood flew from the yellow lizard.

"That's my man!" Hitmonchan squealed as she clapped her hands over her head, "That'll teach him not to look down on you!"

Things only got better when Drizzile lifted Sutorinda up and leaned backward. He then aimed her skull toward the mat and exclaimed, "AQUATIC KATANA SUPLEX!"

But just as the move was about to land, Toxtricity smirked as if all the pain dealt to him meant nothing and said, "Alright, sis, I think we've shown Gallade here enough mercy, don't you?" Sutorinda nodding before she formed her electrical strings.

Sure enough, since they went up to her shoulders, they touched the watery blades, Drizzile's eyes wide with horror when a current travelled up them. And it was not long until the chameleon was covered in the element, his eyes wide with terror as he cried out in agonizing pain.

It was not long until Drizzile removed his blades thus allowing Sutorinda to latch onto his arms. She then threw him downward and slammed his skull into the canvas while Toxtricity held up his hands and used them to block Gallade's next slash. The green man's eyes widened as the yellow lizard completely ignored the fact that blood was now trickling from his hands.

"You didn't seriously think you had me, did you?" Toxtricity scoffed while he tightened his grip on Gallade's arms, "It's like I said before, when my sister and I face total weaklings, we like to share the glory and make them feel good about themselves."

'Dammit, Drizzile was right,' Gallade thought before the yellow lizard continued, "The minute you entered the ring, we knew you were a special case. Sure, we were more than happy to show a little mercy on those last two, but I felt like in order to truly make this fair, I had to let myself fall victim to even more of your moves."

Scorbunny gritted her teeth and growled, "God, what a prick!" Toxtricity planting his knee hard into Gallade's gut and causing him to kneel down. The yellow lizard then took hold of the spike atop his head and allowed electricity to course through his frills while he grunted, "Everyone believes you've improved all because you won a couple of matches, but admit it, if you didn't have someone as awesome as Drizzile on your side, you wouldn't have even made it past the elimination round!"

He then rammed the frill on his forehead into Gallade's face. This caused a bit of blood to squirt out while the green man was too distracted by Toxtricity's words to even notice. And it only got worse when the yellow lizard flipped him upside down and drove the back of his head into the canvas, sighing, "Look, kid, for what it's worth, you're not terrible. In fact, compared to some of the others I've seen in this tournament, you're actually pretty good, but you're not us."

As soon as Drizzile heard this, he pried his head out of the mat and grunted, "You know, you keep saying that, and it gets more obnoxious every time!" He then leapt toward a spellbound Sutorinda and barked, "CHAMELEON LANCE!" sending his tail hard into her forehead.

This caused her to fall on her back before Drizzile delivered a flying kick to Toxtricity's face. He then sent two karate chops into his shoulders and a headbutt to his forehead.

Rillaboom grinned and exclaimed, "That's more like it!" Scorbunny sighing, "As if there was ever any doubt. There's a reason Drizzile's the champion back home," making sure to word that in a way that sounded less suspicious.

But while Toxtricity had definitely taken in a lot of pain, a smirk formed on his face before he broke out into hysterics. Even Sutorinda seemed less alarmed than she should have been as Gallade blinked and uttered, "What are you laughing at!?"

"You just proved our point!" Toxtricity laughed, "Seriously, we were owning your ass until Drizzile came in and helped you! Admit it, replacing Hitmonchan was probably the best choice you could have made, because at least you can use this awesome guy to boost your reputation!"

Hitmonchan gritted her teeth and stood up, barking, "LET ME AT THEM! I'LL KILL THEM!" only for Gardevoir and Machoke to grab hold of her shoulders, the green girl whimpering, "If you go in there, they'll be disqualified!"

Drizzile glared at Toxtricity and was about to retort when he noticed Gallade twitching all over. All that confidence and sense of self worth the chameleon had helped him build up seemed to leave him when he fell to his knees and clutched onto the sides of his head. He breathed heavily and whimpered, "He's right. Who am I kidding? I always try so hard to be worthy of protecting Tokyo when in reality, I suck! I only have two signature moves while everyone else has at least four, and they're both blade-based, which makes me predictable! Hell, one of them was invented by Bisharp!"

The knight in question sat among the crowd with his eyes wide open and uttered, "He has a point," shrugging his shoulders with a grin.

But while Hitmonchan gave Gallade a look of concern, she blinked when Drizzile marched over to the green hand, placed one hand against his shoulder and used the other to smack him across the face. Everyone stared in shock, Toxtricity and Sutorinda strangely impressed by this.

"Stop it!" Drizzile retorted, "None of that really matters to me! I told you already that I respect you for much more than your skills! You're part of the reason I'm as good as I am now! You may not be the most impressive fighter among your friends, but your best trait is that you never quit no matter what! So I don't wanna hear you beat yourself up!"

Hitmonchan's eyes sparkled as she uttered, "Wow, that was beautiful," Rillaboom nodding and replying, "Well, it makes sense. Drizzile may seem like Mr. Confident now, but he actually used to be in the same boat. If anyone understands what Gallade's going through right now, it's him."

But while this seemed to cheer Gallade up at first, his eyes widened when Toxtricity smirked and retorted, "Why bother? You're clearly better off without him," the green man sulking toward a corner post. He then took a seat in front of it, hugged his knees and whimpered, "I'll join you in a second. I just need a little time to collect my thoughts right now."

Drizzile looked at Gallade with concern before he sighed, turned toward he lizards and growled, "You know, as ruthless and arrogant as you two can be, I never thought you'd stoop to this level. But fine. You asked me to take both of you on by myself and I shall!" closing his eyes and ear holes.

All the while, Zeraora stared at this and thought, 'Vaporeon's right. I do have quite a bit in common with him. He's even in a similar situation to the one I was in. Though I wonder if he'll be able to knock out his opponents too.'

At that moment, his mind added, 'Now that I think about it-' though the thought left him almost immediately afterwards. Right now, all that mattered was that for the next couple of minutes, Toxtricity and Sutorinda were in trouble.

All the while, Vaporeon took a deep breath and finally left the bathroom. She shook her head and said, "Right, it's best I don't stress out over this. Right now, I just need to support Drizzile. And when we inevitably face him in the semi-finals, I definitely won't pull the same shit I pulled on Scorbunny."

She then pulled down on her ear fins and groaned, "I'm so glad she didn't notice what I did. If she ever finds out, I don't think she'll want to talk to me again," before sighing, "Maybe I should tell her. It would be so wrong to hide this from her. After all, Scorbunny's more to me than just a friend."

But after she said this, she was uncertain of what exactly she meant by that. But whatever the case, right now she had to focus on Drizzile's match and nothing else. As such, she sprinted back toward the entrance to the fight area and hoped that she had not missed the entire match.

Now that Drizzile's sight and hearing had been closed off, he was prepared for whatever the Electric Metal Heads had to throw at him. Or at least it seemed so, but as soon as Sutorinda saw him in this state, she smirked and said, "Well, look at that, bro. It's that tactic that gave him and Gallade the upper hand against Smeargle and Florges. Whatever shall we do?"

"Well, I certainly have no intention of just standing around," Toxtricity remarked, "But if we attack him, he'll just dodge us and strike back. Or will he?"

The others stared in confusion, Hitmonchan uttering, "Wait, what? I'm confused. What's going on here?" Machoke explaining, "Right, Gallade told us about this. Basically, if Drizzile closes his eyes and stops listening to his surroundings, he can feel his opponents coming. Basically, any close range move anyone attempts to use against him he can easily counter."

Rillaboom nodded and replied, "There is one downside to the move that we found out about when he fought Melmetal. If an opponent attacks from a distance, even if he sees the move coming, he'll still get hurt if he attempts to counter it."

It was at this exact moment that she and Aipom realized what Toxtricity's words meant. And to make matters worse, they knew Drizzile could not hear them warn him, thus they braced themselves and closed their eyes.

Sure enough, the lizards formed their guitar strings once again and spat, "OVERDRIVE!" before strumming their fingers along the strings. This allowed them to release large sound waves toward Drizzile, the chameleon thinking, 'Why aren't they doing anything yet?'

While the sound did not effect him, he cried out in pain when lightning swirled around the waves and struck him hard. Thus he opened his eyes and ear holes as Gallade looked up and turned. A look of terror formed on his face before he rose to his feet with a look of anger.

"What is wrong with me!?" he spat, "This is so unlike me! I need to help my ally right now!" thus he raced toward the Electric Metal Heads. When Toxtricity saw this, he smirked and redirected his lightning toward the green man.

The yellow lizard's eyes went wide when Gallade folded his arms in front of his face and ignored the pain dealt to him. And once he was close enough, he spat, "PSYCHO CUT!" and threw his arms downward to form an X. The crowd cheered wildly when blood flew out of Toxtricity's chest and he fell on his back.

Sutorinda gasped and ended her assault on Drizzile just in time to receive a clothesline to her neck. Gallade took it a step further and kept his arm on that exact spot before he swung around her. He then leapt backward and planted the back of her head into the canvas.

The crowd cheered wildly while Beedrill exclaimed, "And in a shocking turn, Gallade has just found a way to combine a clothesline with a suplex! I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before!"

Machoke and the others all cheered when Vaporeon arrived just in time to see this. She smiled and thought, 'Wow, that was one of Gyarados' signature moves. And to think Gallade officially invented it. I wonder if she ever found out about that.'

Drizzile breathed heavily and smiled at Gallade before he heard Vaporeon squeal, "Way to go, guys! Keep it up!" Zeraora turning toward the blue fox and breathing a sigh of relief. He had started to worry after she had been gone for so long.

Needless to say, Drizzile was glad to see her as well, though his attention was directed elsewhere when Gallade rested a hand on his shoulder and sighed, "Sorry for all the melodrama earlier. You're right. No matter how many times life beats me down, I always get back up, and I just about broke that today."

The chameleon nodded and replied, "Hey, it's fine. Believe me, I used to be way worse. Now, come on, let's show them why we're the Aquatic Katana. I haven't been using my water since I got electrocuted, but I'm pretty sure this'll work."

Gallade nodded before Drizzile formed his water and morphed it into a pair of large gloves just in time for Toxtricity and Sutorinda to rise to their feet. He leapt toward the yellow lizard and sent two karate chops into his shoulders, barking, "AQUATIC POWER MITTS!"

All the while, Gallade raced toward Sutorinda and delivered a roundhouse to her neck. He then latched onto her shoulders while Drizzile did the same to Toxtricity's sides, both leaping backward and barking, "SUPLEX SKULL CRASH!"

Hitmonchan waved her arms in the air and cheered when the lizards' skulls collided and the two coughed up blood. Gallade and Drizzile released their hold before most of the crowd joined the boxer. Vaporeon, all the while, smiled sweetly and returned to the bleachers, taking a seat next to Zeraora.

"Hey, you were gone an awful long time," he said before Vaporeon chuckled nervously. But before she could say anything, he patted her on the shoulder and added, "Don't worry, I understand. That's happened to me at random times before."

The blue fox's eyes went wide as she just decided to accept that. The last thing she wanted was for her friends to know why she had spent so long in the bathroom.

In the ring, Toxtricity and Sutorinda rose to their feet and breathed heavily. The yellow lizard nodded and said, "Well, I'll admit, Gallade, you're a little better than we first thought. But you're still not us," the green man groaning, "I'm with you, Drizzile. That's really starting to get on my nerves."

With that in mind, both prepared themselves to fight back only for Sutorinda to enquire, "Hey, bro, you think they're worthy of that?" Toxtricity nodding and replying, "Yeah, I think they've earned our ultimate showstopper."

The crowd watched in amazement when the lizards pounded their fists together and covered them in electricity. They then spread their arms out as a stream of the element formed for each of them. Soon enough, both streams took on the form of guitars literally shaped like axes.

Machoke blinked and uttered, "Why did it never occur to me that they could do something like that?" Blaziken shrugging and replying, "Big deal. This is nothing for those two, right?"

Both Aquatic Katana seemed to think so as they prepared themselves. At the very least, Drizzile figured if he did not use any of his water abilities, he would be okay. And after a few seconds, the Electric Metal Heads raced toward them with their guitars held upside down over their heads, both barking, "THUNDER AXE!"

Once close enough, the lizards swung their guitars toward their opponents. Drizzile managed to dodge Toxtricity's with ease while Gallade used his arm blades to block Sutorinda's. But while this seemed to work at first, everyone could quickly see that this move would not be that easy to avoid when Toxtricity's released a shock wave that spread wide enough to strike Drizzile. All the while, Gallade cried out in pain when electricity seeped from Sutorinda's guitar along his arms.

With Drizzile and Gallade distracted, Toxtricity proceeded to swing his guitar sideways into the chameleon's belly. This caused him to cough up blood and fly backward into the turnbuckle. All the while, Sutorinda lifted hers up and rammed it hard into Gallade's skull, thus he gritted his teeth while a light tear rolled down his cheek.

This may have led to both guitars breaking, but the results seemed worth it. Hitmonchan fumed and spat, "Come on, honey, snap out of it! You can beat these two easily!"

Unfortunately, both Gallade and Drizzile appeared too weak to continue. Thus Toxtricity gave Sutorinda a thumb up before he advanced toward the chameleon. He then lifted him up by his tail and flung him toward Gallade.

But just as both team mates were about to collide, the green man suddenly regained focus and grunted, "I don't think so!" Thus when Drizzile was close enough, Gallade took hold of his wrist just in time for him to get his head in the game as well. The chameleon held out his arm, formed his large glove again and yelled, "AQUATIC POWER MITT!"

Sutorinda gasped after she received a karate chop to her cheek. Before Toxtricity could retaliate, it seemed Drizzile had more in mind when he lathered his entire body in water and said, "Alright, Gallade, throw me toward him."

The green man nodded and did just that before Drizzile's water morphed into a bullet. He then rammed his skull into Toxtricity's gut and exclaimed, "SNIPE SHOT!" the crowd going wild while the yellow lizard coughed up blood.

Hitmonchan cupped her hands together and squealed, "Wow, I have to admit, that Drizzile really is an amazing partner!" before sighing, "In fact, he might actually be better than me."

Gardevoir smiled reassuringly and squeaked, "Aw, come on, don't say that," Machoke nodding and adding, "Yeah, at the very least, your track record is still technically better than Gallade's."

But just as it seemed like Toxtricity would be knocked down again, he spread his legs and stopped himself from falling. Gallade gulped and uttered, "He can use that too?" before the yellow lizard latched onto Drizzile's waist and covered his hands in electricity, shouting, "HIGH VOLTAGE GLOVES!"

While this alone already seemed powerful enough, Drizzile was still covered in water. Thus the volts coursed through him while he cried out in agony. Then after a few seconds, an explosion formed around him and Toxtricity, the entire crowd going silent.

Gallade and Sutorinda turned away from one-another to look a this, the blue lizard gasping, "Bro, what were you thinking!?" but when the smoke cleared, Toxtricity only had a few small burns on him while Drizzile had gone limp and his eyes had rolled to the back of his head.

With that, the yellow lizard released his hold on Drizzile and allowed him to collapse while Scorbunny and Rillaboom stared in horror. They could not believe this. Even after all of his efforts, he had been knocked unconscious.

"Come on, get up!" Vaporeon spat, everyone turning toward her, "You've dealt with way worse than this! Remember Unown!? He was far more powerful yet you still managed to defeat him!"

Those from this time line stared at her in confusion since, of course, Unown had not been born yet. Palkia, meanwhile, looked at this and uttered, "Wow, you think those Electric Metal Heads might actually be a threat to us?"

"No," Dialga remarked with his arms folded, "This is exactly what I figured would happen if those heroes from Edmonton were separated. Drizzile may have stood somewhat of a chance against us, but not with a loser like Gallade on his team. Though that lizard may deny it, Toxtricity and Sutorinda were right about him. The fact that those two had to work so hard to knock him out basically tells me they never stood a chance against us to begin with."

Gallade breathed heavily while Toxtricity stated, "You know, it really is a shame. I can honestly say that Drizzile really was on par with us. It just sucks that his teammate couldn't have been on his level, otherwise he probably would have finished me off with that."

The green man gritted his teeth and growled, "SHUT UP!" racing toward the yellow lizard only for Sutorinda to dash in front of him, cover her hand in electricity and jab it into his gut, barking, "HIGH VOLTAGE PUNCH!"

Gallade coughed up blood while electricity surrounded him. With that, the lizards could tell he was no longer a threat to them. Thus they nodded at one-another before Sutorinda leapt over to Toxtricity.

"The Aquatic Katana put up an amazing effort, but with Drizzile out cold, it seems as if this match is over," Beedrill stated, "Gallade is unable to fight back as his opponents set up for their best move."

Hitmonchan got up and spat, "Come on, honey, keep going! You've got them right where you want them!" the others nodding and cheering for him as well, Blaziken exclaiming, "You've gotten so much better lately! Are you really gonna prove that arrogant prick right!?"

But as much as Gallade wanted to defeat the Electric Metal Heads without Drizzile's help, that punch left him far too weak. Thus he could just barely stand as the lizards bounced off the ropes and latched onto one-another. Electricity coursed through their frills as they spun vertically toward the green man and shouted, "LIGHTNING SAW!"

Gallade cried out in agonizing pain when they slashed open his upper body. Thus blood spewed out of him as he closed his eyes and fell hard on his back with his arms spread out. All went silent until Nori started the ten count, Beedrill and Butterfree describing what had just happened.

Of course, Gallade's friends all started to chant his name, but in the end, this proved pointless. Ten seconds passed before Nori rang the bell and exclaimed, "And after quite possibly the bloodiest match so far, The Electric Metal Heads have won and will advance to the semi-finals!"

Many members of the crowd cheered while plenty of others looked mortified. Vaporeon tensed up and uttered, "No, that did not just happen," clutching onto the sides of her head, "We were supposed to face Drizzile in the next round."

Zeraora had a look of fear himself but soon dropped it before he rested a hand against Vaporeon's shoulders. He then smiled and gave her a thumb up as she tried her hardest to calm down. But while her friends had a knack for getting back at those who defeated the others, she had never pulled that off before. Could she really do this?

Hitmonchan could not just sit in the bleachers anymore, thus she got up from her seat and raced toward the ring right when medics entered it and loaded Gallade and Drizzile onto a stretcher. The others soon joined her before Blaziken bit the lower half of her beak. She turned to the others only for Gardevoir to nod her head and let her know that she had no problem with the chicken joining Hitmonchan in the hospital. After all, the boxer could use some company.

Vaporeon took many deep breaths while Blaziken approached Hitmonchan and rested a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. The boxer smiled at her, but just as the two were about to leave with Gallade, Hitmonchan asked the medics to wait for her and made her way over to Vaporeon.

The blue fox blinked when Hitmonchan rested her hands on her shoulders and said, "I know this is a lot to ask, but I don't want to see those two make it to the finals. Promise me you'll defeat them," Vaporeon sighing, "Of course I will."

Zeraora smiled and thought, 'Yeah, we can do it, I'm sure of it,' while Toxtricity and Sutorinda exited the ring. But of course, this was not the last concern for today. There was still Rillaboom and Aipom's match with Dialga and Palkia, and Vaporeon could not help but wonder if her friends really could defeat the dragons.


	27. Chapter 27

While the first two matches of the quarter-finals had been intense, there were still two more. And of course, Rillaboom and Aipom were hard at work. After all, their next opponents were the very villains the gorilla and her friends had gone to the past to defeat. While Shaymin and Melmetal may have failed, there was no doubt the two simians could do it instead.

Aipom was currently lifting a dumbbell with her tail hand as Rillaboom delivered an onslaught of punches to a sandbag. But after a while, she took a deep breath and said, "You know, I can't help but feel like we may need to do more to prepare ourselves. You saw that last match. Shaymin and Melmetal barely managed to draw blood from them."

"You're right," Aipom replied, "But still, we've already done a lot to prepare ourselves. If we work too hard right now, we'll just tire ourselves out. Besides, from what I saw from them, I think I've devised a strategy that might actually work."

The gorilla nodded with a smile and said nothing more. After all, if this plan had been thought up by Aipom, there was no doubt it had to be good.

While this went on, Machoke and Gardevoir were off training for their own match. Even though they were not up against any villains, one of their opponents was Lucario, so far the second fighter to ever defeat Machoke. Although unlike the first to best him in combat, the reptilian was still yet to get an official victory against him.

Gardevoir currently unleashed an onslaught of punch punches to a metal dummy. A big smile formed on her face as she managed to leave small dents, Machoke looking at this and saying, "Wow, that's amazing, honey."

"I know!" the white woman squealed, "I knew I'd gotten stronger, but not that strong!" before sighing, "I just hope it's enough to beat those two."

Machoke blinked and replied, "Well, I'm sure we'll win, and even if we don't, it's not the-" Gardevoir shaking her head and saying, "That's not who I meant. Remember, there is a chance that Dialga and Palkia might truly be evil. If we end up facing them, we'll need to be as ready as possible."

"Right," the reptilian man replied, "Those two are pretty scary. They took in all sorts of punishment but still came out on top. Even Hoopa wasn't this intimidating."

With that in mind, both worked extra hard. They were determined to defeat Lucario and then do the same to Dialga and Palkia. Right now, that mattered more to them than winning the tournament.

All the while, Vaporeon, Zeraora and Scorbunny were having lunch in the lobby. Vaporeon had a serious look on her face while she ate hers. She had quite a bit on her plate. Not only did she need to support Rillaboom and Aipom with all her might, but she also felt like she had to avenge Gallade and Drizzile's loss, let alone Morgrem and Rolycoly's.

And while Zeraora was more than happy to join her, there was something else weighing on his mind. It was the same thing that had bothered Vaporeon earlier, and it was their victory of Scorbunny and Blaziken. While it had felt earned and he was happy with the results, there was something off about them using their team move to end it.

But he felt now was not the time to bring it up. After all, Rillaboom and Aipom would need as much support as they could get, and right now, a good number of their friends were in the hospital. At the very least, Zeraora needed to be there for them.

Once lunch was finished, Scorbunny was the first to get up as she stretched and said, "Hey, come on, let's get back to the bleachers. The Super Simians will be fighting soon!" only for Vaporeon to take hold of her shoulder and enquire, "Hey, can I talk to you about something real quick first?"

The rabbit blinked before the blue fox turned to Zeraora and added, "Oh, yeah, this is kind of private. You can go on ahead," the cat nodding and replying, "Right, of course," before walking ahead. He hesitated briefly before he shook his head and thought, 'I shouldn't eavesdrop. That would be wrong.'

"So, what's up?" the rabbit enquired with a smile only for Vaporeon to sigh, "Why are you acting like nothing's wrong? I mean, I appreciate that, but it makes no sense to me."

"Hey, I haven't forgotten about the situation," Scorbunny remarked, "I'm just trying to be a little optimistic about this. No sense assuming the worst, right? This is Rillaboom we're talking about."

"Well, yeah, there's that, but you know what I'm talking about, don't you?" Vaporeon asked only for Scorbunny to stare briefly at her, the blue fox growling, "Just admit that you noticed the horrible, selfish thing I did near the end of our match!"

The rabbit knew exactly what she was talking about. She had felt it from the moment Vaporeon told Zeraora to set her and Blaziken up for their team move. And yet she had acted as if nothing was wrong because she did not really see a major problem with this. But now that she knew Vaporeon did, how could she ignore it?

Thus, she folded her arms and asked, "Alright, I'll bite. What's the selfish thing you did?" Vaporeon sighing, "Look, I could tell that you and Blaziken could barely move after taking in Zeraora's slam. No offence, but I felt like the two of you wouldn't be able to get back up in time to beat the ten count. If I'd just left you two as you were, you would have still lost and taken in less damage."

Scorbunny nodded and replied, "But you wanted to be involved with the final blow, right?" the blue fox whimpering, "Yeah. I mean, that's dishonest enough, but I did that mainly because I just really wanted to feel like I was still that powerful hero who bested you in our first match!"

"But you are a great hero!" Scorbunny squealed only for the blue fox to retort, "Can you honestly say that!? I'm grateful to you and your friends! You gave me companionship and made me feel like I belong, but ever since you joined the side of good, you've all managed to upstage me! As much as I love having you all around, I also envy all of you!"

Tears welled up in her eyes while Scorbunny stared and uttered, "Wait, that's why you did that?" Vaporeon sniffing, "I was the hero chosen to protect Edmonton, and yet all three of you have done so much more! I lost to Obstagoon without landing a single hit, so the three of you had to come in and finish him off for me! Then I lost to Furfrou and Rillaboom defeated her after you dealt a considerable amount of pain to her! I was the first to lose to Melmetal, and on top of that, you guys put up a much better fight against him than I did! And when those gods tested us, I lost to Eternatus within mere minutes while you and the others managed to pass their test! I wanted to prove that I really was worthy of protecting Edmonton!"

"But you beat Corviknight," Scorbunny replied with a shrug only for Vaporeon to groan, "And no other villain after that! Let's face it, Morgrem and Rolycoly have been more useful than me! In fact, I'll be honest, while I'm fine if someone else defeats Dialga and Palkia, I want to be the one to win the whole tournament. Does that make me selfish?"

Scorbunny stared for a few seconds before she let out a sigh and approached the blue fox. She then held her in a tight embrace and said, "You are a great hero. So what if you haven't won as many matches as us? You have great skills! On top of that, you're a great person! You let us into your home without a second thought! You helped us adapt to our new lifestyle! Hell, I can guarantee that we, or at the very least, I wouldn't be nearly as happy as I am now if it weren't for you!"

Vaporeon stared into Scorbunny's eyes. As much as she wanted to question this, she could tell that her friend was completely serious. Thus she took a deep breath and said, "Thank you so much, Scorbunny. Though there is one more confession I have to make, and don't worry, I fully intend on telling Zeraora later."

The rabbit blinked and enquired, "What would that be?" Vaporeon groaning, "Well..." She then went into great detail about why she had helped Zeraora gain all that confidence and recruited him in the first place, how she figured that if she could train a loser like him to be amazing, she would come off as even more impressive.

"Oh, wow," Scorbunny uttered before Vaporeon stated, "Though before you ask, I am glad I helped him out, but not for that reason anymore. Honestly, I'm just really happy that his life has improved."

The rabbit nodded with a smile and said, "Well, I hope he takes this well when you tell him. You might be taking a bit of a risk here," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "I know. But you know what? I don't really care if I win the tournament anymore or not. Hell, I'd be perfectly happy if Machoke and Gardevoir claim the championship again."

A big grin formed on her face as Scorbunny nodded and replied, "That's really good to hear," resting a hand on her shoulder and adding, "Also, after we return to our time line, I'll arrange an official rematch. Then we can fight one-on-one and see who truly is the best among us."

Vaporeon gave the rabbit a cute grin and said, "I'd love that," before pounding her fist against hers. And with all said and done, the blue fox felt much better. At the very least, she would definitely defeat Toxtricity and Sutorinda.

Once the hour had passed, Machoke and Gardevoir entered the bleachers and took a seat next to their friends. The reptilian grinned and said, "This'll be good. Those dragons won't know what hit them."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Yeah, they have no idea what they're in for," before smiling at Zeraora and adding, "And those lizards won't know what they're in for three days from now, eh?"

The cat nodded before Beedrill stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, it is just about time for the third match to begin! Those first two were simply incredible, but we still got another half of this round to cover!"

Butterfree nodded and added, "In the blue corner are a couple who have truly made an amazing first impression! Despite all the torment they suffered in the last round, they still came out on top! Give it up for the Time Space Squad!"

The crowd cheered wildly when Palkia flew toward the ring with Dialga's shoulders in her grasp. She then soared high into the air until she was in front of the sun and everyone could only see the dragons' silhouettes. The purple dragon slowly made her way down toward the mat and set her partner down before both struck a pose.

Scorbunny and Vaporeon frowned while Beedrill exclaimed, "And in the red corner, we have yet another truly unexpected team! These powerful primates have really made a name for themselves, showing us a perfect blend of strength and smarts! Now, everyone give a round of applause for the Super Simians!"

Unlike before, Rillaboom and Aipom had chosen to go for a more simple approach. This time, the monkey was dressed like a performer as she stood atop Rillaboom who was curled up into a sphere. The gorilla rolled forward while Aipom ran along her while juggling a set of balls.

Gardevoir stared in stunned silence while Machoke uttered, "Seriously, why has she agreed to two of these? Whenever I'd have her help me with an entrance like this, she always hated it!"

Whatever the case, Aipom seemed to enjoy this as she thought, 'I think I'm finally starting to understand why Machoke always puts on over-the-top entrances like this. This is actually a pretty good stress reliever.'

Once she was close enough, she jumped off and landed perfectly on her tail hand before removing her performer outfit and tossing it out of the ring. Rillaboom propelled herself into the air and landed hard against the mat before retracting out of her ball-like state and striking a pose.

Dialga simply had his arms folded but rose an eyebrow when Palkia clapped and squealed, "Bravo!" only to notice the blue dragon's awkward stare. Thus she forced a serious look and folded her arms.

Rillaboom narrowed her eyelids and thought, 'Yeah, keep up that calm look. Once we're done with you, you'll be left to rot in prison.'

Dialga eyed them and said, "I must say, it is a pleasure to stand in the ring with someone of your stature, Aipom. But it's one thing to have trained one of Earth's mightiest heroes. Do you think you're good enough to face us?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Aipom remarked with a grin, "I promise I'll be the challenge you're looking for," Rillaboom nodding and thinking, 'Yes, with the strategy we've cooked up, there's no way even you two can possibly win.'

Once the teams were ready, Nori nodded and said, "Well, folks, it looks like the teams are all set. Let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Rillaboom and Aipom stood their ground while the monkey waved her tail hand toward herself. After seeing just how powerful the dragons were, many could not believe either of them would even think about goading them like that. Even Palkia had no idea how to react as she turned to Dialga and asked, "What should I do about that? It's pretty obvious what they're doing."

"Indeed," the blue dragon replied, "Still, it doesn't matter how they choose to fight us. We're too powerful for any strategy to work. Even though these two are intelligent, their strength greatly differs. While Rillaboom is strong all over, Aipom only has one strong part on her entire body. So we might as well just attack them anyway."

Palkia nodded and flew toward them, Aipom smiling and thinking, 'Hook, line and sinker,' before she leapt up into the air and Rillaboom dove under Palkia. The gorilla lifted up her arms and took hold of Palkia's sides while the monkey placed her tail hand against her head, both swinging their arms to the side.

Everyone stared as this caused the purple dragon to fly head-first into the turnbuckle. And unlike many of the moves Shaymin and Melmetal had used, this actually seemed to hurt her just a little bit when she winced in response.

Dialga frowned and raced toward them. But when he leapt toward Rillaboom to send a kick with his right foot into her face, the gorilla simply leapt to her own right. And when the dragon missed, she held out her arm and transformed her grass bracelets into barrels before she rammed her arm into his neck. And while the strike itself barely dealt any visible pain to him, it along with his lack of balance right now proved enough to knock his upper back into the canvas.

Of course, Dialga immediately flipped back onto his feet, but he had a look of shock in his eyes. He could not believe that had worked as well as it did. But he quickly calmed down and thought, 'Whatever. That barely hurt, anyway. She won't pull that off a second time.'

Palkia seemed to think the same thing when she flew toward Rillaboom with her arm out, Dialga switching tactics and aiming for Aipom. The monkey watched him closely and noticed that he was about to attempt a knee kick. With that in mind, she used her tail hand to lift herself off the mat and propelled herself away from him.

The blue dragon growled and attempted to strike her again while Palkia was seconds away from hitting Rillaboom with her arm. Luckily, the gorilla had counted on this, thus she swerved far enough to the side to avoid it and took hold of it. She then shifted herself around just enough to redirect Palkia's flight and send her right toward Dialga who was still trying his absolute hardest to strike Aipom.

Just as it looked like the monkey was about to slip up, a grin formed on her face when Palkia's skull rammed into Dialga's cheek. Thus he coughed up blood and fell on his side, the crowd staring in stunned silence. All the while, Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "I think I've finally figured out what they're doing. Oh my god, that's brilliant!"

Palkia gasped and backed away from Dialga slightly, uttering, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" the blue dragon rubbing his cheek and growling, "Of course I am. I can handle this sort of thing. Let's stick together for now."

The purple dragon nodded and lifted Dialga up by his shoulders. She then flew toward Rillaboom while the blue dragon held his arms out and lashed out his claws. And when they got close, he exclaimed, "METAL DRAGON LANCE!"

Fortunately, Rillaboom was more than ready, thus she knelt down and leapt up just high enough to avoid the move. She then planted her feet into a spellbound Palkia's back and shifted her sideways, causing her to fly toward the turnbuckle.

The purple dragon gasped and released Dialga, her eyes wide with terror when he continued to fly forward, his claws soon stuck in the pole. With that, Rillaboom grinned at Aipom and asked, "What say we try a real attack now?"

The monkey nodded and squeaked, "Hell yeah!" before she and the gorilla leapt toward Dialga from behind. Palkia gasped and flew toward the Super Simians only for them to take hold of Dialga's legs and pry him out of the turnbuckle. Both then leaned backward and shouted, "DOUBLE SIMIAN SUPLEX!"

The Time Space Squad's eyes widened when the back of the blue dragon's head collided with his partner's skull. Palkia's eyes were wide with terror when she coughed up blood this time and fell hard on her belly. And it did not end there as Aipom and Rillaboom nodded and threw Dialga forward, exclaiming, "DOUBLE PRIMATE POWERBOMB!" planting his chest into the canvas.

"This is absolutely amazing!" Butterfree gasped, "So far, Rillaboom and Aipom have dealt significantly more damage in less than two minutes than Shaymin and Melmetal dealt within five, and all without taking any damage themselves!"

Beedrill nodded and added, "Besides, remarkable," Butterfree and Nori both staring awkwardly at him until the butterfly uttered, "That wasn't even a full sentence. I mean, seriously, what the hell did that even mean?"

"You know, I have no idea," Beedrill replied, "I just felt strangely tempted to say that."

Of course, Rillaboom and Aipom's friends could not have been happier right now. Machoke smiled and exclaimed, "Wow, I've never seen Aipom fight so well before!" Gardevoir nodding and replying, "Well, this is only the third time we've seen her fight, but yeah, she's definitely at her best today."

Zeraora nodded and stated, "I wasn't sure what you meant before, Vaporeon, but you're right. This strategy they're using it perfect."

"Care to let me in on this?" Scorbunny uttered, "I've gotten better at strategizing since I first started hero work, but I still don't entirely get how they've shown better results with mostly simple techniques than Melmetal did with his toughest moves."

"Simply put, they've barely done a thing to Dialga and Palkia themselves," Zeraora explained, "In fact, I think they both knew that even Rillaboom's strength wouldn't be enough to do all that much harm to them, so they've basically been causing the dragons to hurt themselves, figuring no one could possibly deal more damage. On top of that, they seem to be specifically limiting themselves to slam moves, figuring their weight could work against them as well."

Machoke grinned and said, "Yep, Aipom thinks of everything," Gardevoir giggling, "I'm sure you could have come up with that too, though, right?" the reptilian chuckling, "Yeah, eventually."

Luckily, the five had not said any of this loud enough for the dragons to hear, thus they were still in the dark after Dialga was released and distanced himself from Aipom and Rillaboom. Palkia then flew over to him and panted, whimpering, "I think we might have underestimated these two. They've already managed to hurt us and draw blood twice."

"No, these two are not that strong," Dialga grunted, "They weren't the ones who drew blood from us. We were," the purple dragon gasping, "Us!? What are you saying!?"

"You can't be this dense!" the blue dragon retorted, "Think about it! That first time I coughed up blood, it was after you hit me! Then when you did the same, it was after I made contact with you! They're turning us against ourselves!"

Palkia nodded before a smirk slowly creeped over her face, saying, "Oh, that was a good tactic, but now that we know, we're not gonna fall victim to that again, are we?" Dialga nodding and replying, "Good to know we're both on the same page. They've had their moment in the spotlight, but let's see them try that again."

With that in mind, he had Palkia lift him up and hurl him toward the simians. He pointed his knees toward them as Rillaboom smirked and readied her arms long with Aipom. But just as they were about to retaliate, they were shocked when Dialga lowered his feet and planted them against the mat to stop his flight.

With the Super Simians distracted, Palkia flew over her partner with arms out. Her skin had become a darker shade of purple and arms turned pink before she exclaimed, "SPACIAL WHACK!" ramming one arm into Rillaboom's gut and the other into Aipom's face.

Just from this one hit, the monkey already coughed up blood before Dialga raced toward her and grabbed hold of her tail. He then spun his body around and flung her back-first into the turnbuckle while Dialga turned her claws pink and barked, "SPACIAL REND!"

Rillaboom cried out in agonizing pain when she took the claws to her chest. Blood spewed out as she backed up with a look of terror in her eyes. And things only got worse when Palkia took hold of her shoulders, turned her forehead pink and cried, "SPACIAL HEADBUTT!" ramming the part in question into Rillaboom's.

Now she could not help but cough up blood of her own and stumble backwards before she lost her balance and fell on her rear end. The crowd stared in shock while Machoke's jaw dropped. And of course, the others were just as devastated.

"I'll admit, I'm impressed," Dialga stated with his arms folded, "I heard you were a genius, Aipom, but I never thought even you could come up with a tactic like that so easily. Even so, we're onto your little game. You'll have to fight us for real now."

Aipom shook her head before she blinked and thought, 'No,' Rillaboom equally concerned. Could they possibly win with a normal strategy?


	28. Chapter 28

Rillaboom and Aipom had started their match with a lot of promise. Unfortunately, Dialga and Palkia had seen through their strategy. Thus the duo would need to come up with something else.

But while Aipom had spent a lot of time as a trainer with good strategies, she was still not exactly perfect. After all, she started her career at the age of ten. As such, she could not help but turn to Rillaboom and whisper, "You wouldn't happen to have a plan B, would you?"

The gorilla took a deep breath and replied, "Well, the only other plan I have is to fight like before, but I think at the very least, we should stick with slam moves. You saw how easily they resisted standard moves like punches, kicks and the like before, right?"

"That's true," Aipom replied, "Luckily, as hard as their bodies are, they aren't too difficult to lift up. Yeah, we can still do this."

Dialga let out a sigh and enquired, "Are you two done discussing how hopeless this situation is for you? It doesn't matter what you come up with. You know you can't hurt us yourselves," Beedrill blinking and uttering, "You know, I appreciate their help in arranging all of this, but do they need to be so smug?"

Butterfree implied raising an eyebrow and remarked, "Weren't you just like that before you turned good?" the wasp folding his arms and grumbling, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Aipom frowned as Rillaboom took a deep breath and said, "I'll let one of them hit me. As tough as they are, believe me, I can handle it," the monkey nodding before both got into a fighting stance. Thus Palkia sighed, "Finally," before she and her partner raced toward their opponents.

Dialga lashed out his claws and swung them toward Rillaboom only for her to hold up her arms and block them with her barrels. She blinked when she noticed the claws lodged into them, and while she was rather alarmed to see a bit of blood trickle out of the holes, she also saw a golden opportunity. Thus she smirked, lifted Dialga up and leaned backward, planting his back into the canvas.

Aipom, meanwhile, dodged Palkia's various scratches before latching onto her ankle. She then pulled back and caused the purple dragon to fall on her back. But just as she was about to do more, her eyes widened when Nori stated, "While Rillaboom has taken full advantage of Dialga's move, it seems as if his claws are stuck in those barrels of hers!"

When the monkey turned, it seemed so as Rillaboom tensed up and tried her hardest to pry them away. Unfortunately, Dialga had her right where he wanted her as he smirked and said, "That was a nice counter. Too bad it means nothing in the long run.

Thus he lifted himself up and planted his feet into the gorilla's forehead. He then latched his legs onto her neck and leaned forward, planting his claws into her ankles. Afterwards, he flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, slammed the back of Rillaboom's head into the mat and shouted, "METAL DRAGON ROLLING CLUTCH!"

He then moved his arms downward and caused her knees to bend, thus the gorilla cried out in intense pain while her friends all stared in horror. While Dialga had shown off some impressive moves up to this point, this submission hold seemed more devastating than all of them. And things only got worse when Aipom tried to rush in and help only for Palkia to latch onto her tail, lift her up and slam her belly into the canvas.

"Aipom!" Machoke gasped after she coughed up blood. And it only got worse when Palkia stomped down on her back, her flesh now a darker shade of purple. She then turned the claws on her feet pink and exclaimed, "SPACIAL REND TWO POINT O!" scraping them across the spot she had stepped on.

Aipom cried out in agonizing pain before her eyelids started to lower. While it was already established that her body was weaker than those of her friends, she had also proven herself capable of handling moves like this. And yet the few hits she had succumbed to seemed to take a massive toll on her.

When Rillaboom saw this, her eyes widened before she growled and whipped her hair vine forward. She then wrapped it around Dialga's ankle and sharpened her hair. Finally, she took a deep breath and cried, "ROSE BUSH CATAPULT!" before she pressed the hair hard against the mat and used it to propel herself and the blue dragon into the air.

Dialga's eyes and mouth were wide with terror when she used her hair vine to flip herself over one hundred and eighty degrees, barking, "VINE REVERSAL!" and descending toward the mat. Sure enough, the back of Dialga's head hit the mat hard. This seemed to deal just enough pain when he released his claws from the gorilla and allowed her to distance herself from him.

Dialga remained upside-down with a look of shock on his face. He could have flipped upright, but he was too stunned. He could not believe how much that slam had hurt. While the ones used earlier may have been effective, they were not this effective.

Rillaboom growled when she saw Palkia scratch Aipom again. However, the purple dragon stopped before she turned her attention away from the monkey, changed her hand claws pink and uttered, "Oh, you escaped. Big deal. I'll just-" only for the gorilla to form her hammerheads and ram them both into her gut, barking, "WOOD HAMMER!"

Much like the slam earlier, this proved far more effective than it should have as Palkia gasped in pain. And things only got better when Rillaboom whipped out her vine and latched it to the purple dragon's neck. She leapt into the air, wrapped her arms and legs around Palkia and flipped multiple times backward.

"VINE BOULDER SLAM!" Rillaboom cried before planting Palkia's skull into the canvas. While none of these hits had been enough to draw blood, they still dealt a considerable amount of pain, and the crowd could not help but cheer as Beedrill exclaimed, "And after suffering all sorts of abuse, Rillaboom seems to have gotten the upper hand!"

The gorilla released Palkia and ran toward Aipom, asking, "Hey, you alright?" the monkey slowly opening her eyes and breathing heavily, panting, "Yeah, but man, that's the worst pain I've ever felt in my life."

She then rose to her feet and grunted, "Still, I'm really impressed. I know you're strong, but after how hard it was for Melmetal to hurt them-" the gorilla replying, "Yeah, I think it might be partly because of the damage they dealt to themselves earlier. It must have weakened their bodies a little bit."

The monkey blinked and thought, 'That makes sense. And they don't seem to have processed this yet. Good, we can still win,' thus a smile formed on her face as she asked, "Ready to unload a barrage of team moves?"

Rillaboom nodded with a smirk and lifted up Aipom onto her shoulders. She then curled up into a ball and had her hair form a boulder and sharpen before she rolled toward Palkia, she and the monkey barking, "ROSE BUSH MONKEY BOULDER!"

The purple dragon winced in pain when she took in the strike and flew backward into Dialga who had only just risen back to his feet. He coughed up blood before Rillaboom retracted to her normal state and formed a hammerhead on her right arm. Aipom then placed her tail hand up against it before both monkeys swung their hands back. Finally, they moved them forward and flew along with them.

Palkia's eyes widened when she took both fists to the face, the Super Simians exclaiming, "WOOD WARHAMMER!" The crowd cheered wildly when the purple dragon coughed up more blood, Vaporeon's eyes sparkling as she squealed, "Yeah! Way to go, guys! You got them!"

Before Dialga could finally snap out of his trance and fight back, Rillaboom reverted her hands to normal and had spikes jut out of her barrels. She then threw her arms inward and planted them into the blue dragon's neck, leaping up into the air and leaning backward. Aipom flipped vertically toward the two and planted her tail fist into Dialga's chin, thus the two managed to force his skull into the canvas and yelled, "THORN HAMMER SUPLEX!"

Dialga gritted his teeth with his eyes wide open while he thought, 'How are they doing all of this!? They're not even having us hit each other as much yet they've dealt so much damage! We need to up our game right now! Clearly these two are a major threat after all!'

All the while, Zeraora uttered, "Wow, I seriously can't believe it. I wouldn't be surprised if those two won the tournament," Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Well, you never know," winking at Vaporeon.

Dialga took a deep breath after the Super Simians released their hold on him and flipped back upright. He then turned to Palkia and grunted, "Alright, that's enough messing around. It's clear what we have to do."

The purple dragon nodded before she turned her body dark purple again. She then took to the sky and flew toward Rillaboom and Aipom. But just as the duo readied themselves to counter whatever she had planned, she flew high above the mat before Dialga raced toward them. Thus the simians realized Palkia must have been trying to distract them, thus they leapt toward Dialga only for him to dodge to the right.

Afterwards, Palkia landed behind them and turned her skull pink, aiming a headbutt toward Rillaboom's back. But just as she was ready to turn around, the purple dragon stopped and flew sideways before Dialga leapt at the gorilla with his leg raised for a roundhouse.

Once again, the gorilla readied herself only for him to land against the mat, Aipom thinking, 'I see what's going on. They're trying to psyche us out. Every time it looks like they're about to attack us, they stop and set up another one.'

With that in mind, she growled, "Alright, Rillaboom, we're gonna have to go on the offensive again!" the gorilla about to question this. But so far, the monkey's tactics had worked, so she nodded and raced toward Dialga while Aipom did the same for Palkia.

As soon as the blue dragon saw this, he smirked and thought, 'Gotcha,' before leaping over Rillaboom's head. Palkia spread out her wings and soared right past Aipom before both dragons were together. They then linked their arms and spun around like a twister before the blue dragon flew toward Aipom and the purple dragon aimed for Rillaboom.

"SPACE TIME REND!" both dragons shouted before Palkia sent a fierce slash into the gorilla's chest and Dialga, now with a blue aura around him, scratched open Aipom's forehead.

The crowd stared as after the monkey had gotten up from so much damage earlier, this was the final blow that did it. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell hard on her back, Machoke and Gardevoir both mortified as they stared at this.

Rillaboom breathed heavily and looked at the dragons only to grit her teeth and growl, "Oh, hell no! I am not rendering our efforts pointless! You may have outsmarted us back there, but let's see you overcome this!" Palkia flying over to Dialga.

She then rolled toward them and sharpened her hair, barking, "ROSE BUSH BOULDER!" only for Palkia to lift Dialga up after he went down on all fours. Both pointed their claws toward Rillaboom and spun forward like a drill.

"SPACE TIME DRILL!" they barked before their claws collided with Rillaboom. Everyone watched while smoke started to rise up from all three fighters. However, it seemed that the gorilla had lost when her hair was engulfed in flames. Thus she retracted back to her normal state and cried out in pain only for her voice to become higher than the dragons jabbed their claws into her gut.

Blood spewed out as Rillaboom gritted her teeth and placed her hands firmly against their arms. However, after a few seconds, she could no longer handle it, thus her eyes closed and her body went limp. Dialga and Palkia ended their assault and allowed her to collapse, her friends all horrified.

Nori was just about to start the ten count only for Beedrill to rest a stinger on her shoulder and shake his head. He then pointed at the simians, the woman noticing that neither one was able to move at all. With that in mind, she nodded and rang the bell before exclaiming, "And moving onto the semi-finals are Hero Planet's new advisers, the Time Space Squad!"

While the audience had been devastated at first, this changed when one member said, "Wow, to think they actually beat those two despite so much going against them," another adding, "Yeah, Dialga and Palkia are even more badass than I first thought."

As such, the area erupted with heavy cheers and applause before Dialga and Palkia rose their arms in the air. Both had wicked smirks on their faces, the purple dragon unable to believe that humans could really be this naive. But then again, many heroes throughout history had been known to possess brutal fighting styles, so perhaps it was not so strange for people to accept this.

Machoke lowered his eyelids and groaned, "Oh yeah, I forgot that fight fans are like this," Zeraora shrugging and replying, "Well, it's not like they're cheering for the forces of evil, right?" Scorbunny and Vaporeon both chuckling nervously.

They then watched as medics enter into the area and load Aipom and Rillaboom up on stretchers. Scorbunny bit her lower lip and whimpered, "Maybe it's a good thing I fought you instead of those two, otherwise that could have been me."

"No way," Vaporeon remarked with a light smile, "You would have kicked their asses," the rabbit rubbing the back of her head.

Even so, all the blue fox could do at this point was hope that whoever won the next round would be good enough to defeat them. After all, both were tournament champions. Either team would be a great pick, especially now that Rillaboom and Aipom had managed to reveal a major weakness that the dragons shared.

Whatever the case, Lucario and Clauncher were both ready, thus they rose up from their seats and headed toward a training room. Machoke and Gardevoir nodded at one-another and did the same, Machoke blinking and enquiring, "Hey, Scorbunny, would you like to help us with our entrance?"

The rabbit nodded and replied, "Sure," slowly getting up while Vaporeon bit her lower lip and uttered, "My god, we had so many people to cheer alongside us before, but now it's just the two of us in the bleachers right now."

Zeraora patted her on the shoulder and replied, "Hey, it's alright. I'm sure at the very least, Morgrem and Rolycoly will be awake to cheer us on three days from now. Plus, Blaziken and Hitmonchan will support us from the hospital, I just know it."

The blue fox nodded and said, "Um, hey, Zeraora, there's something I'd like to discuss, but let's wait until the round is over. I feel like that would be the best time."

The cat nodded and replied, "Oh, okay," but while he had a neutral look, a part of him had a feeling that he knew what this was about.

Machoke took a deep breath while Scorbunny looked over Gardevoir's plans for the entrance. She nodded and said, "Wow, this is a really cool idea. I can see why you wanted my help with this." As it so happened, the two had decided on a sports theme and after seeing Scorbunny and Blaziken's first entrance, this just seemed right.

Meanwhile, Lucario and Clauncher were hard at work, the shrimp saying, "This must be really exciting for you, eh, buddy? It's been so long," the dog nodding before she added, "It's also nice that you're not revenge crazy this time."

"Yeah," Lucario sighed while he rubbed the back of his head, "Don't worry, I won't go insane this time. This will be a good, clean match, and if Machoke wins, I'll accept it."

Amanda and Veronica both entered at that exact moment, Lucario blinking and saying, "Oh, hey, there," a big smile on his face while his girlfriend walked over to him and said, "I thought I'd give you a little something for luck."

The dog's fur turned beet red when she planted her lips up against his. She then pulled back and chuckled before Amanda gave him a hug and added, "Just so you know that I'm gonna cheer for you. I like Machoke and Gardevoir, but hey, family first, right?"

"You know you really didn't have to explain that, right?" Lucario remarked only for the two to chuckle. The dog then blinked when Veronica said, "Just know that even if you lose, you're still my champion."

Lucario grinned and asked, "What did I ever do to deserve such wonderful people in my life?" before he turned to Clauncher and added, "By the way, there's a little something I'd like to add to our entrance if it's alright with you."

The shrimp blinked, shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Hey, you know me. I'm up for whatever you have in mind," Lucario bowing his head before he turned to Veronica and stated, "Anyway, we'll be starting soon. Best you head back to the bleacher's, eh?"

The silver-haired woman nodded and replied, "Oh, of course." She then gave the dog a light peck on the cheek before heading out of the room.

Amanda folded her arms and snickered, "You are such a sap," only for Lucario to roll his eyes and retort, "You'll understand when you find love."

Dialga and Palkia, meanwhile, were conversing with Beedrill. While they did so, many of the audience members stared. After all, this was the first time since sign-ups that the dragons had actually been seen discussing anything with the chairman. Until now, many wondered if they really were advisers or not.

"So just to be clear, we're still going through with the gimmicks we thought up for the semis, right?" Dialga enquired before Butterfree nodded and replied, "Hell yeah we are. Seriously, that iron turnbuckle idea is genius."

"Well, I dunno, it seems a little much," Beedrill uttered, "But then again, I did allow my father to add a spiked rock to the Olympic semi-finals, so what do I know?"

"Speaking of which, could we maybe change the gimmick for our match?" Palkia uttered, Dialga turning to face her. He could not help but wonder what she had in mind, though it looked highly unlikely her idea would fly when Beedrill asked, "It depends. Would this give you an unfair advantage?"

"Oh no," the purple dragon chuckled, "In fact, this gimmick is perfectly fair for everyone. I was just thinking maybe we could have an electric cage match!" Dialga raising an eyebrow before Butterfree stroked her chin and asked, "You haven't been talking to Blitzle, have you?"

The purple dragon looked confused until she shrugged and replied, "Oh, so it's an enhanced version of the electric rope match we had planned before. Okay, I'm all for that," Beedrill nodding and adding, "Yeah, that should be fine."

And so, their meeting came to a close before the dragons returned to the bleachers, Dialga saying, "I have to say, that is an interesting proposition. But why did you decide on that?" Palkia replying, "I just figured it might be fun to have an electrified wall that we can toss our opponents into. Besides, after that last match, I don't wanna give either of these teams a chance to recover."

The blue dragon nodded and said, "I have to say, Palkia, I'm genuinely impressed. You really thought this through," patting her on the head, "Anyway, I guess we may as well see which team we'll face."

Scorbunny soon rejoined her friends in the crowd before Vaporeon said, "Oh, hey, Scorbunny. I imagine this entrance will be epic if you helped set it up, eh?" the rabbit chuckling, "It's gonna be amazing."

At that moment, Beedrill stated, "After an incredible set of matches, we're now down to the last one! In the red corner is the Olympic champion and a partner who has truly proven herself to be a great match for him! Give it up for the Fancy Fighters!"

The crowd went wild when Lucario and Clauncher both stepped into the area dressed in street clothes. Both folded their arms and bobbed their heads up and down to an upbeat J-Pop song and stepped toward the ring. Clauncher leapt up onto Lucario's head and held up her claws before the dog pulled out a microphone with the sound turned off and lip-synced to the song.

When he entered the ring, he pretended to sing the romantic part of it and pointed at Veronica who gasped, "Oh my god, that's so cool!" before turning to Amanda and uttering, "So, um, what do those lyrics say?"

Amanda chuckled, "It's a love song about fighting for your special someone. Lucario picked it out himself. He said it would be perfect for this," Veronica's cheeks beet red.

Once the song ended, the crowd cheered wildly and turned to the silver-haired woman when Lucario yelled, "That was for my fiance, Veronica!" Scorbunny blinking and uttering, "Oh god, he might have upstaged us with that one."

After Lucario and Clauncher removed their clothes and tossed them out of the ring, Butterfree exclaimed, "And in the red corner, we have the world tag team champions themselves! Having defeated many a foe, they have displayed a great deal of power time and time again! Give a round of applause for the Glamourous Fighting Machines!"

The crowd stared when Machoke and Gardevoir raced into the area dribbling a soccer ball back and forth. But while this seemed simple at first, the green woman lifted it up with her foot and launched it into the air. She then leapt up toward it and performed a perfect three hundred and sixty degree flip, planting her foot into the ball. Afterwards, Machoke rammed his skull into it to send it into the air before it exploded and released fireworks from inside of it.

Everyone stared at this display while the couple walked toward the ring, Machoke sighing, "I can't believe that actually worked," Gardevoir giggling, "I just realized, I'm wearing the perfect outfit for this."

Lucario folded his arms and said, "I gotta say, that was a pretty good entrance," the reptilian smirking and replying, "Yours wasn't half-bad either. A little on the cheesy side, but still good."

However, before the match could begin, Machoke held out his hand. Lucario nodded and took hold of it, though his eyes went wide when the reptilian whispered, "Hey, I don't wanna cause any alarm and I'm not entirely sure about this, but I have a funny feeling Dialga and Palkia might not be on the side of good."

"I'm impressed," Lucario replied with a nod, "I've actually had that feeling about them myself since this tournament began, and not because they fight with the same level of ruthlessness Talonflame did when he was evil. I've felt terrible vibes from them from the start, but without any definitive proof, we can't just accuse them. Therefor, we're gonna fight our absolute hardest."

Machoke smiled and said, "Good. Because if I win today, I want it to feel earned. That way, I'll know that Gardevoir and I truly are ready to face them," the two patting each other on the back while the crowd cheered, Nori stating, "What an amazing display of sportsmanship! Even though these two had quite the brutal match five years ago, it's clear that they're still great friends!"

And with all said and done, both teams headed to their own sides of the ring. Nori nodded and rang the bell before Machoke and Lucario got into a fighting stance, both turning toward Dialga and Palkia with serious looks in their eyes. Both were certain that no matter which of them came out on top, the dragons would be in trouble.


	29. Chapter 29

This was it. After all the anticipation, the match between the Glamourous Fighting Machines and the Fancy Fighters was about to begin. While neither team could be too sure, both had a feeling Shaymin had been right about the Time Space Squad, thus all four fighters were determined to show them just how threatening they could be.

With that in mind, Machoke and Lucario immediately raced toward each other and threw their arms forward, each planting his hands into the other's shoulders. Both of them started to apply pressure and start up a contest of strength while Clauncher leapt toward Gardevoir with her claw raised. The green girl squeaked and swerved to the right just in time to avoid it before she sent her palm hard into the shrimp's cheek.

Clauncher flew sideways and fell on her side while Machoke smirked and started to overpower Lucario. However, it seemed as if this was what the dog wanted, thus he smirked and leaned backward, latching his ankles around Machoke's. He then used all his might to flip both himself and the reptilian over, slamming his skull into the canvas while the crowd cheered.

Afterwards, he released his hold and leapt toward Gardevoir, forming an aura around his hand. Before Gardevoir could react, she took the palm to the back of her head before Lucario exclaimed, "FORCE PALM!" Clauncher adding, "CRABHAMMER!" expanding her claw and slamming it into the white woman's face.

Machoke rose to his feet and gasped at the sight of this. Gardevoir could feel her head spin from just these two hits alone, thus the reptilian man put on a serious look and ran toward Lucario from behind. Unfortunately for him, the dog saw it coming and spun around, planting his foot into Machoke's midsection. He then proceeded to unleash an onslaught of karate chops while Clauncher lifted up Gardevoir and leaned backward, planting her face into the canvas.

"We're only a little over a minute into the match and it's already really intense!" Beedrill stated, "Neither team is letting up, though it would seem the Fancy Fighters are dominating! Let's see if the Glamourous Fighting Machines can pull off one of those classic miracles that they're known for!"

It seemed as if they might just be able to do that when Machoke smirked and caught Lucario's wrists after the eleventh strike. He then lifted the dog up over his shoulders, leaned backward and planted his back into the canvas. Gardevoir seemed ready as well when she slipped out of Clauncher's hold, spun vertically one hundred and eighty degrees and planted her feet into the shrimp's back.

With Clauncher distracted, Gardevoir reached her arms down and took hold of her sides. She then leapt high above the mat and flipped the shrimp upside-down, descending toward the mat with her legs flying up over her head. When Machoke saw this, he hurled Lucario toward the female fighters.

The crowd watched in awe when the reptilian leapt up to Lucario's level and latched onto the dog's ankles. He then flipped him over and wrapped his legs around his neck. Finally, he placed Lucario's skull right up against Clauncher's tail before he and Gardevoir shouted, "METEOR ATOMIC BOMB!"

Sure enough, the shrimp's skull hit the canvas hard as she already coughed up blue blood, Lucario taking in a lot of pain himself. The cheers from the crowd were even louder as Machoke and Gardevoir released their hold on their opponents and breathed heavily with a big smiles on their faces.

Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "Okay, I'm sure this isn't over yet, but that was amazing," Scorbunny nodding in agreement.

The majority of the crowd broke out into heavy cheers and applause, Blaziken and Hitmonchan both watching this from the hospital. The chicken stared and uttered, "Wow, even as friends, they're still going all-out."

The boxer nodded and replied, "I gotta say, Gardevoir's incredible. If anyone from the Beiulieu family can advance to the semi-finals, it's her," chuckling, "Don't tell my darling I said that."

"Why not?" Blaziken remarked, "He'd likely agree with you," Hitmonchan sighing, "Yeah, but he puts himself down enough as it is. I don't wanna give him another reason."

Florges and Smeargle, who had returned to France, both applauded this while watching it on TV. The flower woman grinned and squealed, "Tres magnifique! Those two never cease to amaze moi!"

"Oui!" Smeargle replied with a big smile before he munched on an apple pie fry, "I still can't believe I managed to beat her in the last tournament. It feels like a true miracle."

But just as Vaporeon suspected, this match was certainly not over yet. This showed when Lucario pushed himself up and placed his hand against Clauncher's tail. He then pried her up off the mat before setting her down on her feet and said, "That's just what I expect from the two of you. This is the rematch I always dreamed of."

"Well, glad we haven't disappointed you," Machoke replied with a grin before turning his gaze to Dialga and Palkia. But while the purple dragon appeared a little bit intimidated, the blue dragon tried not to look impressed.

With that, Machoke narrowed his eyelids and thought, 'Alright, if that didn't strike fear into you, watch closely,' before he and Gardevoir leapt toward their opponents with their arms out and shouted, "ECLIPSE HOOK!"

Lucario held up his arms and pointed his wrist spikes forward, thus when Machoke's arms made contact, the spikes pierced his flesh. The reptilian man cried out in pain while Clauncher easily blocked Gardevoir's arm with her big claw and wrapped both of her arms around it.

The Fancy Fighters leaned backward and lifted up their opponents, planting their upper backs into the canvas. But of course, it did not end there when Lucario rose to his feet and lifted up Clauncher, both shouting, "CRAB GAVEL!" before the dog swung the shrimp downward and planted her big claw into Machoke's gut.

The reptilian man took in quite a bit of pain but ultimately ignored it before lifting up his arm and taking hold of Clauncher's claw. He then used all his might to throw her forward, Lucario's eyes wide when he ascended off the mat and flipped forward onto his skull. Gardevoir rose to her feet with a smile and leapt into the air. She then leaned sideways and planted her elbow into Lucario's chest while the crowd went wild.

Of course, both lovers were not finished, therefor they lifted Lucario up by his shoulders, flipped him upside-down and leapt into the air. They then leaned their bodies sideways, thus planting the dog's skull into the canvas as Scorbunny uttered, "I am so glad I'm here to see this," Raboot munching on a bag of nuts and replying, "You can say that again."

The female rabbit turned to face him and uttered, "Where did you come from?" the male replying, "I saw two seats open here and decided to claim one."

"Hey, same here," Leafeon stated while she sat next to him and sighed, "Though I wanted to sit next to my cousin," Scorbunny blinking before Vaporeon nodded her head at her with an awkward look in her eyes. Once the female rabbit put two-and-two together, she nodded and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Scorbunny," holding out her hand.

Lucario flipped back to his feet and took a few deep breaths before a grin formed on his face. He then nodded at Clauncher and said, "Alright, let's kick this up a notch," a blue aura surrounding the dog. The crab then proceeded to take hold of his foot and lift him up before hurling him toward the two.

Lucario crossed his arms in front of his face and pointed his wrist spikes forward. Sure enough, Machoke was unable to move out of the way in time to avoid taking them to his shoulders and falling on his back while the dog barked, "ROYAL JAVELIN!"

Gardevoir was about to help only for Clauncher to roll up into a ball and leap toward her while she spun like a wheel. Sure enough, the white woman's head turned sideways when the shrimp struck it hard like a cannonball. And when Clauncher reverted to her regular state, she took hold of Gardevoir's side and lifted her up, planting her side into the canvas.

Lucario continued to hold onto Machoke before flipping him over onto his belly. He then latched onto the reptilian's arms and legs and rolled over onto his back. But just as it looked like he had set up Machoke for his Tower Bridge, it seemed he had more planned when he tucked his knees in and planted them into his back, sending him high above the ring.

The dog leapt up to Machoke's level and wrapped his arms around him. After that, he rested the reptilian against his shoulder and leaned backward, shouting, "HALF-MOON PRESS!" planting the back of his head into the canvas.

Machoke coughed up a bit of blood while the crowd gasped, Beedrill stating, "And Lucario unleashes one of four moves that he used to get the drop on Machoke back on the day! I wonder if we'll get to see all of them in action!"

'As if,' Machoke thought, 'You may have caught me off-guard with that, but I'm not gonna let myself fall victim to the others.'

With that in mind, he gritted his teeth and lowered his legs, latching them to Lucario's waist. The dog's eyes widened before Machoke placed his hands against the mat and pushed himself upright, forcing Lucario to fall on his back. The reptilian then took hold of Lucario's arm and pulled up on it while everyone was truly amazed. Never had they seen a submission hold quite like this.

But of course, Machoke knew better than to expect this to end the match for good, thus he got off of Lucario before he could do a thing. He then took hold of the dog's wrist again and hurled him toward Gardevoir who had just gotten up from her slam earlier. Thus she leapt toward the dog with her arm out and squeaked, "MOON HOOK!" ramming it into his neck before he winced and fell on his back.

Clauncher gasped only for Machoke to send a fierce karate chop into her skull, knocking her hard on her belly while the crowd cheered. All the while, Nori stated, "I gotta say, this has to be the most back-and-forth match in this entire tournament so far. Just when you think one team has the upper hand, the other one claims it back!"

Machoke had a feeling this might not last since Lucario still had his aura around him, thus he nodded at Gardevoir and asked, "Hey, think you can take him for a while?"

The white woman nodded with a sweet smile before a violet aura surrounded her hands. Lucario's eyes widened since he knew what this meant. For the next three minutes, he and Clauncher would really need to up their game.

With that in mind, Lucario dove toward Clauncher, rolled along the mat and picked her up by her tail. He then asked, "Hey, you alright?" the shrimp opening her eyes and replying, "Yeah, I'm fine. You should know me better than that by now."

The dog smiled before he said, "Alright, I'm gonna need you to expand your claw and keep it that way for at least a minute." When the shrimp noticed Gardevoir's aura, she nodded in understanding and replied, "Gotcha," before she tripled the size of her big claw.

Gardevoir raced toward him only for him to swing Clauncher toward her and bark, "CRUSTACEAN SWORD!" But when the white woman ducked under and went in for a tackle, her eyes widened when Lucario sent his knee into her face.

As if the counter was not enough, this actually hurt a lot. While that was to be expected for most opponents, Gardevoir always gained an increase in resistance when she had her aura activated. There was no doubt Lucario's put them on equal ground now.

Even so, Machoke would not allow this to continue, thus he dashed behind Lucario only for Clauncher to leap out of his hand, roll up into a ball and ram into the reptilian man's forehead. This was just the distraction the Fancy Fighters needed, thus Lucario took hold Gardevoir's wrists and hurled her into the air. He then leapt up to her level after she flipped upside-down and placed his knees against her feet.

"COLLAPSING TOWER!" he barked before the back of Gardevoir's head hit the canvas hard and she coughed up blood. Machoke gasped only for Clauncher to leap up and take hold of his head. She then dragged him downward and planted his upper back into the canvas before she lifted him up over her head.

Just as she was about to lean backward, Lucario propelled himself off of Gardevoir and latched onto Machoke's ankles, pulling him downward while he and Clauncher shouted, "BRAINCRUSHER!" And sure enough, Machoke's head hit the mat hard before he coughed up blood and groaned in agony.

"Way to go, honey!" Veronica squealed with her arms in the air, "You got this in the bag! Come on, crush them into dust!" only for Amanda to blink and utter, "You know he and Machoke are friends, right?"

Dialga, meanwhile, stared at the ring and said, "You know, I've read a lot about that power of Gardevoir's, that only females in her family have it. But it really doesn't seem all that special," Palkia blinking and uttering, "Wait, what power?"

Gardevoir planted her hands up against the canvas and flipped herself upright before crying, "Honey!" She then took a deep breath and thought, 'Right, we have to take this more seriously. Even though these two are our friends, we have to treat them like any other opponent, otherwise the wrong team could face Dialga and Palkia in the third round.'

With that in mind, the white woman leapt toward Lucario and took hold of his arms. Before he could react, she leapt high into the air and flipped one hundred and eighty degrees. She then spun like a twister and drove the dog's head into the mat, shouting, "TORNADO BUSTER!"

While Lucario had his own power activated, he took in far more pain from this than before and coughed up blood while he thought, 'Okay, so this power is stronger than mine,' before Gardevoir released her hold and allowed him to collapse.

Clauncher tensed up when Machoke rose to his feet and said, "You should know by now that it'll take more than a brainbuster to take me down," realizing that his other two team finishers would not work on a fighter her size. Besides, Lucario had defeated all three finishing moves required for those team moves in the past anyway. If anything, there was only one move that could work on them, and it was the one they created earlier.

With that in mind, the reptilian man smirked at Gardevoir and asked, "So, you ready to pull off that awesome team move again?"

The white woman nodded and replied, "Hell yeah," before lifting up Lucario and hurling him toward Machoke. The reptilian also picked up Clauncher by her tail and flung her toward Gardevoir before the shrimp even had time to react.

Once again, Gardevoir leapt up into the air and flipped Clauncher upside-down, allowing her legs to float over her head. Machoke, all the while, leapt up to their level and flipped Lucario over. He then latched onto the dog's ankles and wrapped his legs around his neck before planting him up against Clauncher's tail, the Glamourous Fighting Machines exclaiming, "METEOR ATOMIC BOMB!"

Amanda watched this and blinked, saying, "I gotta give Machoke credit. At least he waited for the right moment to use that again," Veronica whimpering, "Lucario can break free from that, right?"

It seemed that was not the case when, just like before, Clauncher's skull hit the canvas hard while Lucario's head pressed up against her tail. Both Fancy Fighters coughed up blood as they closed their eyes. Thus Machoke and Gardevoir released them and allowed them to collapse while cheers and applause filled the area.

Vaporeon, Zeraora and Scorbunny watched in silence as Veronica bit her lower lip and cupped her hands together. All the while, Dialga nodded with a grin. After all, he could not have asked for a better pair of opponents to defeat in the semi-finals.

Nori reached ten seconds and rang the bell before she stated, "After probably one of the most exciting matches so far, the Glamourous Fighting Machines claim victory and move on to the semi-finals!" the crowd truly ecstatic while Veronica breathed heavily and panted, "It's okay. Machoke and Gardevoir are friends. I'm happy with this."

Amanda patted her on the shoulder and sighed, "It's okay to be a little upset. Just don't go overboard," the silver-haired woman nodding before resting her head against her future sister-in-law's shoulder.

Lucario and Clauncher slowly opened their eyes before the dog looked up. Machoke smiled and extended his hand to him, saying, "That was an awesome match."

The dog grinned and took hold of the hand before he was pulled upright. The two then shook hands while the cheers got louder. And when Veronica saw this, she took a deep breath and sighed, "Yeah, I really am okay with this now."

She then placed her hands against her cheeks and squealed, "He's such a good sport!" Amanda nodding and replying, "Yep, that he is."

Clauncher also shook Gardevoir's hand and said, "You guys really are awesome. I know you'll put those dragons in their place," Lucario nodding with a serious look in his eyes. If anyone could stop two villains, it was the Glamourous Fighting Machines.

"Well, folks, that concludes the quarter-finals!" Beedrill exclaimed, "And what a round this has been! But remember, we still have the semis just three days from now, so be sure to see it!"

Machoke and Gardevoir exited the ring along with Lucario and Clauncher. They smiled when Scorbunny raced toward them and squealed, "That was great! You guys really live up to your reputation!" Zeraora nodding and uttering, "So this is what it's like watching two champions go at it."

Gardevoir and Clauncher rose their eyebrows before Vaporeon chuckled, "Of course you were both amazing too," Gardevoir giggling, "I look forward to facing the two of you in the finals."

Vaporeon nodded and thought, 'Yeah, we're in good hands. I guess the world didn't really need us. These two will defeat Dialga and Palkia for sure,' looking at Zeraora, 'Even if we lose the finals, we will at least beat Toxtricity and Sutorinda. I don't wanna see them make it.'

Amanda and Veronica raced over to Lucario and gave him a hug before telling him how good a job he did. The dog then turned to Vaporeon and Zeraora before he said, "Best of luck in the next round. Those two lizards are pretty tough."

The cat grinned and replied, "Yeah, but we can beat them, right?" Vaporeon nodding with a sweet smile.

With all said and done, everyone was ready to leave the stadium. Of course, Machoke and Gardevoir would go to check up on their friends in the hospital along with Scorbunny and the others. But before they could do so, Vaporeon said, "Hey, Scor, you can go on ahead if you'd like."

The rabbit looked back and forth between the blue fox and her partner. Thus she nodded in understanding and headed off. Zeraora blinked and uttered, "Oh yeah, you had something to tell me, right?" Vaporeon nodding with a sigh and turning to face him.

"Well, the first thing I wanna talk about is our match with Scorbunny and Blaziken," Vaporeon uttered before Zeraora thought, 'Oh, this is what I thought,' before she sighed, "The truth is, I did something really terrible back there. I could tell the two of them had been weakened too much, but in truth, I wanted to be the one to finish the match, so I figured I'd give you a reason to join me for a team move. In truth, you defeated them both while I was unconscious and I kinda robbed you of that."

The cat stared for a few seconds before he let out a sigh and said, "Hey, it's alright. I'm just glad you actually came clean," the blue fox staring wide-eyed while he added, "I get it, okay? This was your chance to prove whether you were better than Scorbunny or not. I'm more than happy to give you that. Besides, you held back against her. We're a team, and that means sharing the glory, right?"

Vaporeon continued to stare blankly for another few seconds. She then blinked her eyes tight and breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "Wow, thank you for saying that. And before you ask, I already told Scorbunny and she's cool about it, too."

Zeraora nodded and replied, "Well, that's great to hear," a sweet smile on his face before Vaporeon rubbed the back of her head. But just as she was about to head off with the cat, he asked, "Wait, you said that was only the first thing you wanted to talk about. Is there something else I need to know?"

The blue fox released nervous sweat and gritted her teeth with a look of fear in her eyes. Even so, she could not keep quiet about this any longer. It would be unfair to Zeraora, and at this point, she no longer cared about winning the tournament.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and said, "Zeraora, do you remember when I took you on as my apprentice, when I said you were the perfect partner for me?"

The cat nodded and replied, "Yeah, do you not think I am?" only for Vaporeon to reply, "Oh, heavens no. In fact, you're so much better than I could have ever hoped," before sighing, "But, well, there is a reason. You see, it's not just Scorbunny but, well, ever since she and the others became my allies back home, they've managed to upstage me at every opportunity."

Zeraora blinked while she added, "In my entire career as a hero, I've only ever defeated two villains, and Scorbunny was my first. Meanwhile, they've beaten a plethora of opponents, including three extremely powerful gods who came to test their skills."

"Wow, that's impressive," Zeraora uttered before Vaporeon sighed, "Yeah, it is, and, well, it made me jealous. The truth is, Scorbunny actually volunteered to be my partner, but I turned her down and chose you instead. The reason is because, well, I wanted to prove that I was worthy to fight alongside them. My goal was to win the tournament without their help."

The cat nodded and said, "Well, I hope you told Scorbunny that as well. She'd be-" only for Vaporeon to cut in and state, "I did tell her, but that's not all. See, the reason I chose you when I could have at least sought out someone with experience was also for my own benefit. I saw how weak and pitiful you were and thought that if I could shape you into the perfect fighter, I'd only look more impressive. People would see how I turned a complete loser into a champion and say 'That Vaporeon is amazing! Not only is she a great hero but a great trainer as well!'"

Zeraora stared wide-eyed. While he had caught onto the first thing, this was all news to him. Thus he uttered, "So you used me for your own benefit is what you're saying."

Vaporeon bit her lower lip and uttered, "In a matter of speaking," the cat taking a deep breath. He did not look angry, but he did not look accepting either. If anything, he seemed confused.

Thus he clenched his fists against his sides and stood there for a few seconds. Then after a while, he said, "I, um, need some time to think," before he turned away from Vaporeon and marched away from the area. The blue fox stared in stunned silence before she fell to her knees. Deep down, she had a feeling this would happen, but she had really hoped it would not.


	30. Chapter 30

Vaporeon could not help but wonder if she had done the right thing. After she confessed her motives to Zeraora, he simply walked out on her. It made sense, but it was still painful.

After a minute passed, Scorbunny poked her head into the area and asked, "Hey, you've been talking an awful long time. Is everything al-?" her eyes wide when she noticed Vaporeon on her knees with a blank look on her face.

The rabbit sprinted over to her and rested her hands on her shoulders, asking, "Hey, Vaporeon, what's wrong? Where's Zeraora," the blue fox uttering, "He left."

Scorbunny blinked and remarked, "I beg your pardon?" Vaporeon grunting, "He left! Or, more specifically, he responded to my confession like he should have! I knew I was taking a huge risk telling him all of this and, well, my fears came true!"

Just as Scorbunny was about to speak, Vaporeon sighed, "Look, you don't need to say anything. It's fine. I was using him for my own benefit, and he really deserves better than that."

"But what about your match?" Scorbunny enquired, "If you don't have a teammate, you won't be allowed to compete anymore!" the blue fox blinking and staring silently at the rabbit.

After a few seconds, she shook her head and groaned, "Well, come on, Machoke and Gardevoir will beat Dialga and Palkia then they'll beat Toxtricity and Sutorinda. Admit it, they're the champions of this time line. They can do it easily!"

Zeraora just happened to return to the area with a calm look on his face. He nodded with a confident smile, but for what reason was anyone's guess. But just as he turned the corner, he noticed Vaporeon and Scorbunny engaged in their conversation, thus he decided stay where he was until they were finished. After all, it would have been rude to interrupt.

"But what if they lose?" Scorbunny asked, "Think about it! It's not like their track record is perfect! Not only did Machoke lose to Lucario back in the day, but he actually lost another match prior to that! People don't talk about it because he defeated that same villain in a rematch shortly after, but yeah, it's possible for him to lose! And, well, Gardevoir's lost to five opponents in her career! If they lose, who's gonna defeat Dialga and Palkia, The Electric Metal Heads!?"

Vaporeon blinked and was about to respond only for Scorbunny to sigh, "Look, I'll admit they have skill, and, well, despite their arrogant nature, they are heroes, but do you really think they have what it takes? Even if they had enough power, they would most likely hold back. Thing about it! You're the only one left in this tournament who knows that Dialga and Palkia are evil! You're the only one who would likely go all-out against them!"

Zeraora's eyes widened when he thought, 'They're evil?' Scorbunny adding, "I know, you probably don't think you're anywhere near good enough to match Machoke and Gardevoir's skills, but I think you could be. Or rather, we could be."

Vaporeon and Zeraora both went wide-eyed when the rabbit rested a hand on her shoulder. She smiled sweetly only for the blue fox to utter, "Wait, what? What are you saying?" the rabbit chuckling, "Hey, we both kind of owe each other right now."

"What do you mean by that?" Vaporeon remarked only for Scorbunny to fold her arms and state, "First off, I wanted to team up with you at first, but you turned me down just so you could upstage me. I think you owe me big time for that!"

The blue fox bit her lower lip, Zeraora about to step in until the rabbit added, "But even more so, I owe you for giving me a chance to fight alongside my idol. Even if it was for your own benefit, you let me to do something I never thought I'd get a chance to do. And for that, I owe you everything."

Vaporeon stared wide-eyed and released tears, Scorbunny adding, "Now, I took a little look at the rules just in case something like this happened. Now, apparently, Dialga convinced Beedrill to make it so those who have been eliminated are not allowed to compete again most likely so there wouldn't be a case similar to how Machoke changed allies every round due to every other teammate getting badly injured. But Beedrill added an extra step, and it's that those who have been eliminated before can compete as long as one of the fighters who defeated him or her approves of it. And since you defeated me, you agreeing to let me team up with you is all the approval he'll need."

As much as the cat wanted to step forward, for some strange reason, he decided to exit the area. Though he did not have a look of anger or spite on his face. Instead, he looked happy. However, that smile turned to a serious look before he thought, 'Yeah, those two can definitely win this tournament, and I'll be there to watch it happen.'

Vaporeon wiped her eyes before she held Scorbunny in a tight embrace, sniffing, "Thank you so much!" The rabbit let out a sigh and patted her on the back before the two of them exited the area, Scorbunny suggesting, "How about we call ourselves The Boilers?"

Afterwards, the duo headed to the hospital to check up on the others. Thankfully, Morgrem and Rolycoly were finally awake, but according to the doctor, they would not be able to move for another four days. But of course, they would be more than ready to watch and support Vaporeon and Scorbunny once the day came.

"So, um, where did your cat friend go?" Morgrem uttered only for Vaporeon to chuckle nervously and utter, "Um, he had other things to do."

Rolycoly nodded and replied, "Well, I know you and Scorbunny will be amazing. I mean, you two have been together much longer than that, right?"

After conversing for a little while longer, Vaporeon and Scorbunny checked up on Drizzile and Rillaboom. The fox simply could not believe it. All three of them had advanced so far in the Hero Olympics yet not one of them made it past the quarter-finals. If anything, this only made the fox want to do better for their sake.

With that in mind, she and Scorbunny were both ready to leave the hospital. After a quick meal and a good night's sleep, they would get to work right away. After all, they only had two full days to prepare themselves and they wanted to use every moment.

Vaporeon walked with Scorbunny to a hotel the rabbit had been staying in this whole time. After all, she suspected Zeraora would not want her to enter his house ever again, and she did not blame him in the slightest. If anything, she hoped that what she told him would not break his spirits. The last thing she wanted was for him to lose all that confidence he had built up over the years.

After a quick bite to eat, both heroes crawled into bed next to each other. Vaporeon smiled at Scorbunny and said, "Hey, thanks," the rabbit giggling, "You already thanked me once. You don't need to do that again."

"No, not for teaming up with me," Vaporeon replied, "Though I'm still beyond grateful. I mean everything else," the rabbit raising an eyebrow, "I've said it before and I'll say it again. Before you and the others entered my life, it was boring in Edmonton. Sure, I got along with everyone in my neighbourhood fine, but I had no real friends. Just people who depended on me to protect them."

Scorbunny nodded while she continued, "Ever since you moved in, life has been fun. And while I was jealous before, I really am grateful for everything you've done. Hell, when I started out as a hero in Edmonton, my biggest concern was that I was alone. If anything, it felt like a miracle that I was able to get help from Ben and Incineroar when you and your friends threatened to take over. You all gave me companionship, but you're the one I connect with the most."

She then looked down and sighed, "Even though you're okay with it, I still feel awful for the way I took advantage of you like that," only for Scorbunny to rest a hand on her shoulder and reply, "Look, it's not as if you committed murder. Besides, that was a great match regardless."

The rabbit then giggled, "Also, don't tell the others, but I feel a stronger connection with you than them too," before leaning in and giving the fox a light peck on the cheek.

Vaporeon's eyes widened as she pressed her hand lightly against said cheek. A light smile formed on her face before she returned the gesture and drifted off to sleep. Neither could believe what they had just done, but they felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of their chests.

The following day, all four teams were hard at work for their upcoming matches. Toxtricity and Sutorinda mostly worked hard on upping the strength of their Overdrive. They did this by playing loud music in an abandoned building. They aimed the move at a pair of loud speakers with music blasting from them, the lizards doing their best to overpower it.

Machoke and Gardevoir, meanwhile, practised their best moves on iron dummies. After an hour passed, they took a break on a nearby bench when Machoke said, "So, Gardevoir, I've been thinking about how to approach this. You remember how Rillaboom and Aipom hurt those two, right?"

Gardevoir nodded and sighed, "I get the feeling that might not work. Since it's been used on them once already, they'll probably see it coming," the reptilian man stating, "That's right, but the main thing is that they took in far more damage than they did when they fought Shaymin and Melmetal, and I have a funny feeling that's because of all the damage they dealt to each other, meaning if we can draw blood from them, it'll cause them to take in a lot more pain."

Gardevoir tapped her chin for a little bit before she asked, "Wait, do you think I should use my family power right away?" Machoke nodding and replying, "I know you prefer to save it for dire situations, but think about it. That power greatly enhances your strength for three minutes. That means you could deal all sorts of damage to them and leave them much more vulnerable, meaning we won't even need to have them hit each other for us."

After a few seconds, Gardevoir's eyes sparkled as she squealed, "Yeah, you're right! That's perfect! That way, even when the power wares off, they'll be in such poor condition that even slapping them will hurt them!"

Machoke nodded with a grin before the couple pounded their fists together. There was no doubt the dragons would go down for sure.

All the while, Vaporeon and Scorbunny practised a variety of team moves. Although the fox was much more motivated than ever before. After last night, her spirits were insanely high, and the same went for Scorbunny.

At one point, Scorbunny latched her legs onto a dummy's neck before Vaporeon took hold of her shoulders and lifted her up. She then leaned backward, allowing Scorbunny to slam the dummy into the floor and put a large dent in the back of its head. After the rabbit rose to her feet, her eyes sparkled before she squealed, "Yay! I can use my Asteroid Frankensteiner without straining myself!"

Vaporeon nodded and said, "I feel a little bad keeping this a secret from the others, but I really want Toxtricity and Sutorinda to be surprised. If we breathed a word of this to anyone, they'd likely find out, and that would spoil everything."

The rabbit nodded and giggled, "Yeah! It's just a shame only Morgrem and Rolycoly will see us fight! But we'll still do an awesome job for their sake!" before sighing, "I still can't believe they beat Drizzile after all of that."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "That's why we're gonna do even better. They'll wish they never messed with us," the two sharing a quick kiss before going back to training. It certainly seemed as if Dialga's suspicion of the rabbit and fox making for a better team was correct.

Both days passed by and many people were assembled at the stadium. Though Vaporeon could not help but feel a touch nervous. While she and Scorbunny had come up with all sorts of tactics for this match, this would be her second time facing an opponent with none of her friends from Edmonton in the bleachers to cheer her on.

The rabbit could see this, thus she rested a hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, Vaporeon, calm down. I'm sure Gardevoir and Machoke will cheer for us. We're not alone, okay? Plus, Morgrem and Rolycoly are watching from the hospital. Do you want to let them down?"

"Hell no!" Vaporeon remarked with a smirk before she and the rabbit bumped their elbows together and readied themselves.

All the while, Machoke and Gardevoir sat among the crowd. The reptilian man looked around and sighed, "It's weird not having the others here with us," only for a familiar voice to retort, "Guess I'm not one of the others, eh?"

He and Gardevoir turned to see Blaziken next to them, a grin on her face as she said, " Hitmonchan told me I should come to support you guys. Figured you'd need it, you know, all four of you."

Machoke and Gardevoir both smiled and nodded before the white woman blinked and enquired, "You haven't seen Scorbunny around, have you? We've been saving her a seat for twenty minutes," looking down at her red jersey, which she had placed on the seat for that very purpose.

Blaziken blinked and replied, "Wow, that's strange. She usually tries to be super early for everything. I hope nothing's going on. I mean, we still haven't found whoever it was who assaulted Hitmonchan."

"Oh yeah, about that," Machoke uttered, "I think I might know who attacked her. The only problem is we can't bust the culprit without proof," the chicken blinking. She then thought hard about this and gasped, "Wait, are you implying that Shaymin's ramblings might have actually been true!?"

"Yeah," Gardevoir whimpered, "Lucario felt it too. That's why we all tried so hard yesterday, partly to instill fear in Dialga and Palkia. Though I'm not really sure why they'd attack Scorbunny. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to attack Zeraora? I'd include one of us, but we've been together this whole time, so they'd have no way to catch a single one of us off-guard."

"Don't worry, Scorbunny's fine," came a familiar voice from behind the trio. Their eyes widened before then turned around and saw what looked like a cat seated behind them with a trench coat and fedora on. Machoke blinked and uttered, "Zeraora? What are you doing here?"

Zeraora tensed up and gasped, "Oh my god, how did you see through my disguise!?" Blaziken retorting, "Don't avoid the question! You should be in the back with Vaporeon!"

The cat laughed nervously and uttered, "Um, yeah, about that..." rubbing the back of his head only for Beedrill to take a seat behind a desk and exclaim, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the semi-finals of the Ultimate World Team Tournament are about to begin! These first two rounds have certainly lived up to expectations, but we know these two will be even more exciting when you see what our new advisers cooked up for these matches!"

Machoke narrowed his eyelids and growled, "They had gimmicks added? No doubt they only thought of concepts that would benefit them," Zeraora feeling a tad nervous. Now he could not help but wonder if it was such a good idea leaving Vaporeon with someone she had not spent roughly two weeks training with.

"But before we find out about that, it's time to announce the teams!" Butterfree stated, "In the blue corner is a relatively new duo who have certainly made quite the name for themselves! Despite the odds frequently stacked against them, they continue to overcome the odds and come out on top, kinda like one of the teams fighting in the second match!"

Nori nodded and exclaimed, "Everyone, give a round of applause for..." holding up the card with the name and uttering, "The Steaming Boilers?"

The crowd was beyond confused while Machoke blinked and said, "Wait. Fire and water make steam, right?" He and the others looked at one-another and gasped, "No way!" Zeraora chuckling, "Yeah, there's quite the story behind this."

Everyone watched as steam shot from the entrance. Sure enough, Vaporeon and Scorbunny both marched forward with a serious looks in their eyes. They had no special gimmicks or anything, just a standard, serious entrance while the crowd continued to stare.

When they stood in the ring, they held their arms in the air while Beedrill stated, "As it so happens, Vaporeon's partner, Zeraora, seems to have had other plans. While we have a new rule forbidding those who have been eliminated from competing again, it is considered acceptable if one of the two fighters who defeated him or her approves of it! And, well, as I assume you all recall, Vaporeon was the one who dealt the finishing blow to Scorbunny!"

"Wait, did you know about this?" Butterfree remarked before the wasp nodded and replied, "Yeah. Scorbunny came to me in private and told me to make it a big surprise. I thought the idea sounded fun, so I figured why not."

Dialga stared wide-eyed as Palkia uttered, "Oh, yeah, you were hoping this wouldn't happen, weren't you?" the blue dragon taking a deep breath and sighing, "No, it's fine. They had very little time to prepare themselves. This might actually work in our favour."

Machoke and Gardevoir both clapped for their friends with big smiles while Raboot suddenly arrived and said, "That lucky sod. She got to fight again. Why didn't I get a chance like that?" Leafeon and Jolteon both shocked by this.

"You know, I'm not so sure about this," Leafeon groaned, "Vaporeon and Zeraora worked so well together! Why would he just up and leave?" Jolteon replying, "Well, whatever the case, I'm sure it's alright. We'll just give our relative all the support she needs," taking a sip of coffee.

Once the shock of it all died down, the people cheered. After all, both Vaporeon and Scorbunny had truly proven their worth up to this point, so they could not help but feel excited for what the two would pull off.

When they calmed down, Butterfree stated, "And in the blue corner are two rocking punks who are just as powerful as they are loud! They've blasted their way through the first two rounds and return to entertain us some more! The Electric Metal Heads, everyone!"

Both lizards entered the area with their electric strings at the ready. But just as they were ready to strum them, Toxtricity's eyes widened as he spat, "Hey, wait a minute!" Sutorinda stared at him before he sighed, "Just forget it, sis. Apparently, the song we came up with won't work."

The blue lizard looked down in disappointment before she and her brother walked toward the ring. Many members of the crowd felt similarly. They had actually been looking forward to what they had planned for their entrance.

Once they entered the ring, Toxtricity glared at Vaporeon and Scorbunny and grunted, "What the hell is this!? Did you do this just to fuck with us!?" the blue fox sighing, "I wish that was my intention. No, something unexpected came up and I was left with little choice. It was either get a new teammate or drop out, and I'd rather not do the latter, thank you very much."

"Though to be fair, we did keep it a secret to fuck with them," Scorbunny said with a cute grin before Sutorinda noticed Toxtricity's anger had not subsided. Thus she patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "Who cares? This'll just make things easier for us. We spent our time making our Overdrive stronger because we thought Zeraora would be able to take it, but now he's been replaced by a non-electric type."

The yellow lizard blinked and nodded before he sported more neutral look and said, "Oh well. It doesn't matter, anyway. We've seen enough to know that both of you are awesome, so we won't need to give you an early lead like the last couple of teams."

Vaporeon blinked and uttered, "I don't know whether to be flattered or alarmed," only for Scorbunny to shrug and remark, "We don't need their charity, anyway," Zeraora nodding in agreement.

"Oh yes, let's not forget the gimmick for this match," Beedrill stated, "You can't quite make it out, but the turnbuckles actually have a strong iron underneath their cover! That means anyone who hits them will be in for a world of hurt!"

Machoke blinked and said, "Okay, I'll admit, that's not as bad as I was expecting," Gardevoir nodding and replying, "I'm sure Vaporeon and Scorbunny can work around that."

However, panic rose among the group when Butterfree added, "Now, this one is much more noticeable," pressing a button and causing metal spikes to emerge from the ropes before she explained, "These spikes are also made from iron and are razor sharp! Sure, the fighters can still use the ropes to attack, but should they take the risk!?"

"This is more what I was expecting," Machoke sighed only for Vaporeon and Scorbunny to look at one-another with serious faces and nod. There was no way they would let this intimidate them.

With all said and done, both teams headed to their sides of the ring before Nori nodded and stated, "Well, looks like the Electric Metal Heads seem to be okay with this arrangement as well. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin!" ringing the bell.

Vaporeon and Scorbunny poised themselves for whatever Toxtricity and Sutorinda had in store. The crowd could not help but stare in shock when the lizards formed their electric strings and barked, "OVERDRIVE!"

"Wait, already?" Vaporeon uttered before they strummed their strings and released sound waves from them. However, Scorbunny gasped, "We prepared ourselves for this!"

The blue fox nodded and curled her tail into a spring, she and the female rabbit leaping over the waves. Everyone watched in shock while Vaporeon formed a ball of ice around the tip of her tail and flipped vertically toward Toxtricity. Scorbunny lit her feet on fire and descended toward Sutorinda.

When the lizards took the hits to their faces, Vaporeon shouted, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!" while Scorbunny squealed, "INFERNO AXE!" Needless to say, neither Electric Metal Head was prepared for this, thus they groaned in pain and fell on their backs before the area erupted with cheers and applause.

"Despite the Electric Metal Heads saying they would not allow their opponents an early lead, the Steaming Boilers manage to snag one anyway," Beedrill stated, "But of course, this fight has only just begun. Let's see if they can keep this up."

It seemed as if they might when Vaporeon wrapped her tail around Toxtricity's neck, Scorbunny wrapping her legs around his ankles. Both forced him upward into a bridge formation as he gritted his teeth and felt his back start to bend. But of course, they knew now was not the time to try and take things that far since Sutorinda had more than enough strength to rise to her feet.

With that in mind, Scorbunny used her legs to throw Toxtricity's lower body upward. Vaporeon performed a handstand and formed her ice on her tail again, thus sending a cold chill down his neck and barking, "ICE FRANKENSTEINER!" ramming his upper back into the canvas.

Scorbunny placed her hands against the surface once Sutorinda was back up and pushed herself toward her. Her friends all cheered when she planted her feet hard into the blue lizard's face, causing her to stumble backwards.

But just as Scorbunny was ready to unleash more pain, her eyes widened when Sutorinda shifted her right leg back to prevent herself from falling. She then held up her arms and took hold of the rabbit's ankles before she exclaimed, "HIGH VOLTAGE GLOVES!"

Electricity coursed through her hands and into Scorbunny before she cried out in pain. Vaporeon gasped and turned to face her partner just in time for Toxtricity to smirk and wrap his legs around her. He rested his heels up against her chest and barked, "HIGH VOLTAGE BOOTS!" electricity covering his legs and spreading to the blue fox.

But of course, since Vaporeon had frozen water on her tail, the element was much more powerful against her. As such, she cried even louder than Scorbunny as Zeraora watched nervously. By now, he was used to seeing them in situations like this, but this somehow looked worse than anything they had dealt with so far.


	31. Chapter 31

While the match had started in Vaporeon and Scorbunny's favour, both had fell victim to two powerful holds. And since each one required electricity to have a full effect, the blue fox was suffering far more than her partner.

"Well, I gotta say, we were right not to share any glory with you guys," Toxtricity grunted, "We weren't trying to, yet you've already proven to be awesome. But as awesome as you are, you're still not us!"

"Okay, that's it!" Scorbunny retorted before she ignored the pain dealt to her and lit her feet on fire, "Drizzile was right! Every time you say it, it sounds more obnoxious! I'm sick of it!" thus she swung her feet backward before sending them forward into Sutorinda's gut before she spat, "BURNING PENDULUM!"

This was just enough for the blue lizard to release her hold as the rabbit sent a roundhouse into her cheek and caused her to spin backwards into the ropes, the spikes covering her in small holes. The crowd cheered when she lost her balance and fell on her cheek. And when the rabbit landed on the mat, she launched herself back into the air and lit her feet on fire a second time.

Toxtricity was unable to responded in time when she descended toward him and shouted, "SCORCHING ANVIL!" planting her heels into his face.

Blaziken clapped her hands above her head and exclaimed, "YEEHAW! WAY TO GO!" Machoke, Gardevoir and Zeraora staring awkwardly at her while she chuckled, "What? She used one of my moves to pull that off."

"I get that, but since when do you say 'yeehaw'?" Machoke remarked before Blaziken tensed up and bit the lower half of her beak.

Toxtricity released his hold on Vaporeon before she stepped forward and panted heavily. Just from this one hold, she already felt weak. But when she remembered how much worse her friends had suffered to these two, she shook her head, sported a serious look and said, "Thanks, Scor. Let's show them a taste of our first team move, eh?"

Scorbunny nodded with a big smile and leapt into the air. Vaporeon then jumped behind her and flipped herself upside-down, wrapping her arms around the rabbit's midsection. After she formed her ice sphere, both proceeded to spin vertically toward Toxtricity and shout, "MELTING ICE WHEEL!"

The yellow lizard's eyes widened and his teeth gritted when he took the blue fox's ice to his skull. But of course, it did not end there as she continued to spin and allowed Scorbunny's feet to strike the same spot, forcing his head downward. The two kept this up and delivered six more strikes until he leaned down so far that his face hit the canvas.

Sutorinda was about to strike back only for Scorbunny to fly away from Vaporeon and kick her in the face. She then latched her legs onto her neck before Vaporeon leapt toward the rabbit and took hold of her shoulders. Blaziken's eyes widened when the blue fox leaned backward, lifting Scorbunny up over her head.

"ASTEROID FRANKENSTEINER!" the Steaming Boilers yelled before they planted Sutorinda's skull in the canvas, the crowd cheering wildly. Blaziken blinked and thought, 'It's just like my Asteroid Suplex. I wish I'd thought of something like that. But then again, my Asteroid Suplex did put me at a huge disadvantage, hence why I never used it again.'

Scorbunny and Vaporeon both smiled at one-another before the Electric Metal Heads rose to their feet and breathed heavily. Toxtricity smirked and said, "Not bad, not bad at all. But we're just getting started. You still got a long way to go before you reach our level!"

With that, Sutorinda leapt up onto her brother's shoulders and leaned forward before she grabbed onto his ankles. Their frills lit up and released sparks as Vaporeon smiled and said, "That's just predictable," the lizards rolling toward her and her partner and shouting, "LIGHTNING WHEEL!"

Just as Vaporeon suspected, the Steaming Boilers easily leapt to the side. But it seemed as if the Electric Metal Heads had something else in mind when Sutorinda released her hold on her brother, placed her hands against the surface and lifted him up. Electricity covered his entire body as she swung him around and he curled up into a ball.

"FLYING THUNDERBALL!" both shouted before Toxtricity was flung right into Vaporeon's face. The blue fox's eyes widened as just from this one hit, she already coughed up blood. No one else could believe it had been that easy, and of course, things were about to get a lot worse.

Sutorinda rolled up into a ball herself and bounced into the air before Scorbunny had a chance to retaliate. She then spun into her forehead and exclaimed, "MINI LIGHTNING SAW!" blood squirting from that exact spot.

Scorbunny fell hard on her back before Sutorinda retracted to her normal state and landed an axe kick into her gut. All the while, Toxtricity lifted up Vaporeon by her tail, swung her around and tossed her head-first into the turnbuckle. The crowd watched in amazement while Machoke and the others tensed up. After all, they knew how much this must have hurt with the iron underneath. And it certainly showed when the back of her head cracked open slightly.

Leafeon gritted her teeth and growled, "Dammit! They were doing so well!" Jolteon patting her on the shoulder while Raboot said, "I wouldn't count them out just yet. They've dealt with worse."

Even so, the Steaming Boilers would certainly need to get their second wind soon when Sutorinda lifted up Scorbunny by her neck and slammed her back into the canvas. She then picked her up again by her ears and flung her right into Vaporeon, she and the blue fox grunting in pain.

"Alright, now we got you where we want you!" Toxtricity stated with a smirk. He and his sister formed their electric strings from their knees up to their shoulders. They then started to strum them before shouting, "OVERDRIVE!"

Sure enough, the sound waves came out along with their lightning bolts, but what shocked the audience most was that the waves were not as wide as usual. In fact, they were almost as thin as bullets, and it was soon made clear why they took this approach when the Steaming Boilers were struck in the gut.

Both coughed up blood as dark burns formed in those very spots, the electricity cutting open the skin after a few seconds. Butterfree stared at this and stated, "It would seem the Electric Metal Heads have been hiding a few skills from us! They've purposely made the sound waves for their overdrive thinner in order for the move to deal more damage! And since their opponents are too winded to avoid it, that was the perfect time to dish that out!"

Sutorinda had a big open-mouth smile on her face while she exclaimed, "Look at that, bro! This works wonders!" before Toxtricity nodded and thought, 'That's right. We spent most of our time training our Overdrive ability so we could find ways to make it more effective. Drill mode was created so the attack could deal far more damage. It covers less ground, so it's more likely to miss, hence why we needed to set them up for it first.'

As if that was not enough, the force also sent the two heroes backward and pressed their backs up against the ropes. This put small holes in their backs as blood squirted out, the duo crying out in agony.

After a few seconds, the lizards stopped their assault before Vaporeon fell to her knees and Scorbunny placed her hand against her gut. She tensed up and uttered, "Oh my god, they're even worse than before. How long have they been able to do this?"

"Hey, we can handle it," Vaporeon replied with a smile while she slowly rose to her feet, "Come on, was that anywhere near as bad as Eternatus?"

Scorbunny blinked before she shook her head and readied herself. But just as she and Vaporeon were ready to fight back, Toxtricity smirked and nodded at Sutorinda. Both of them pounded their fists together and covered them in electricity. They then spread their arms apart and formed their axe-shaped guitars, shouting, "THUNDER AXE!"

Vaporeon turned to Scorbunny and asked, "You remember how this move works, right?" the rabbit nodding and replying, "Yeah. This shouldn't be too hard to avoid," both bracing themselves before the lizards raced toward them with their guitars held back.

The Steaming Boilers looked back to when Drizzile and Gallade fell victim to this move and why they failed to avoid it. With that in mind, Vaporeon curled up her tail like a spring and leapt high into the air before Toxtricity could strike her while Scorbunny leapt far to the side in time to evade Sutorinda.

Unfortunately, both lizards had expected this. Thus Toxtricity smirked and hurled his guitar up into the air, causing it to spin like a boomerang and strike Vaporeon's chin. Sutorinda also threw hers sideways before it flew into Scorbunny's cheek. Thus both opponents coughed up blood while burns formed on the spots that had been hit.

"You're not the only ones who have mentally prepared yourselves for this match," Sutorinda stated with a smirk before she formed her strings again, Toxtricity following suit and adding, "We knew at least you would pay close attention to our last match and find ways around our best moves, Vaporeon. After all, you've proven yourself to be an awesome strategist. That's why we came up with ways to work around any countermeasure that you may have come up with."

With that in mind, each one pointed at a different opponent before both exclaimed, "OVERDRIVE!" once again releasing sound waves. Luckily, Vaporeon and Scorbunny had enough energy to move this time, thus they shifted just far enough to avoid the incoming streams. Unfortunately, it seemed as if the lizards had psyched them out when the sound waves expanded to twice their original width, lightning once again striking them as they winced in pain.

'Nice try,' Toxtricity thought with a smirk, 'But this is our bass mode. It deals less damage than the other two, but it covers much more ground, making it harder to dodge.'

Because of the weakened power, Scorbunny was able to ignore the pain this time. The only problem was that because her ears were so sensitive, the sound itself was getting to her and keeping her from fighting back. Thankfully, though, the lizards ended their attack after half a minute once again.

But while this saved Vaporeon and Scorbunny from further pain, it did not change the fact that both already felt weak. Beedrill looked at this and said, "Things seemed to go well for the Steaming Boilers before, but now they can't even land a hit on the Electric Metal Heads, let alone dodge them."

"I hate to say it, but they're right," Blaziken grunted, "I still have faith in them, though. Lord knows we've been in these situations too many times to count. But they'll need to think up something fast."

Machoke nodded and replied, "Well, they have been friends for a long time. I'm sure they can handle it," Gardevoir nodding and squealing, "Come on! You can do it!"

But while Scorbunny was more than ready to make a comeback, Vaporeon did not seem so confident. It was just as Beedrill said. It was one thing for them to take in this much damage, but it seemed as if Toxtricity and Sutorinda had prepared a countermeasure for everything they had now. Would they be able to get the upper hand back?

It seemed unlikely when Sutorinda and Toxtricity locked arms and swung around with their feet above the ground. They then released their hold one each other and flew toward their own targets, Sutorinda kicking Vaporeon in the gut before Toxtricity struck Scorbunny. However, what happened next was even more shocking when the lizards formed electric bracelets around their wrists. Streams shot out of Toxtricity's and attached themselves to Sutorinda's, both pulled toward each other like magnets.

The crowd was confused at first until the Electric Metal Heads locked arms and spun around again. But when they launched themselves toward their opponents this time, each aimed for the opposite target, both shouting, "MAGNETIC FLYING KICK!"

Vaporeon took the strike from Toxtricity before she coughed up more blood, thinking, 'Oh my god! They were really prepared for this!' she and Scorbunny taking in three more kicks while Zeraora bit his lower lip. Even though it seemed unlikely, he could not help but wonder if things would have been different if he had been in the ring with the blue fox instead.

But as the lizards swung around again, Scorbunny frowned and grunted, "No! You will not win!" slowly staggering back to her feet while Sutorinda flew toward her for the third time. She then leapt forward and planted her feet into the blue lizard's chest.

Raboot nodded and said, "That's what I thought," while the female rabbit propelled herself toward Toxtricity just before he could strike Vaporeon. She lit her feet on fire, spun vertically and planted her heels into his face, barking, "INFERNO AXE!"

The yellow lizard gritted his teeth and fell hard on his back before Scorbunny landed in front of Vaporeon and enquired, "Hey, darling, are you alright?" resting her hand against her shoulder.

The blue fox blinked and bit her lower lip. But when she saw what Scorbunny had just pulled off, she took a deep breath, sported a more serious look and replied, "Yeah, I am. They may have been way more prepared for this match than expected, but we can still win."

Scorbunny smiled and replied, "There's the Vaporeon I know," the crowd going wild as Leafeon uttered, "Wait, did Scorbunny just call her 'darling'?" the others' eyes widening.

Either way, the Steaming Boilers were more than ready now as Vaporeon grunted, "You've seen two of our team moves so far! Now take another one!" she and Scorbunny leaping backward into the ropes, ignoring the pain this dealt to their backs. Ice covered Vaporeon's tail again while Scorbunny's foot was engulfed in flames, and when they both bounced off, they pressed both together to form steam. This caused the tip of Vaporeon's tail to turn red and emit heat of its own.

"BOILING VOLCANO!" both shouted before Scorbunny rammed her heel into Toxtricity's gut and Vaporeon sent her tail into Sutorinda. The lizards coughed up blood and flew backward into the ropes, their backs coming open as the blue fox uttered, "I actually can't believe that worked as well as it did."

Of course, there was no way the duo would end it here, thus Vaporeon raced toward the lizards and rammed her arms into their necks before they had a chance to respond. She curled her tail like a spring and launched herself high into the air, leaning backward and shouting, "DOUBLE TRAMPOLINE SUPLEX!"

The crowd's cheers grew louder when the Electric Metal Heads had their skulls slammed into the surface. As if that was not enough, Vaporeon had used enough force to lodge their heads into the material. Thus she grinned and squealed, "Alright, Scor, let 'em have it!"

Scorbunny nodded and allowed Vaporeon to lift her up and fling her toward Toxtricity and Sutorinda with her feet ablaze. And when she rammed her heels into their backs, she barked, "SCORCHING ROCKET!" before a large burn mark formed on each one.

"Hell yeah!" Blaziken shouted with a big smile, "She's so cool!" Zeraora nodding and thinking, 'Yeah, she and Vaporeon really do seem perfect. I bet Vaporeon won't even need me for the rest of this tournament, not with an ally like that.'

Morgrem and Rolycoly watched this from the hospital and grinned at one-another. As much as they wanted to be there in person, they felt lucky just to witness this. And of course, Hitmonchan had the biggest smile on her face as she exclaimed, "That'll teach them not to mess with my beloved!"

She tensed up and blushed when a nurse poked her head into the room to shush her before she placed her hand behind her head and laughed nervously. But regardless, she had a feeling Vaporeon and Scorbunny had this match in the bag now.

Of course, both knew this alone would not be enough to end this match. So before Toxtricity and Sutorinda even had a chance to pry their heads out of the canvas, Vaporeon took hold of the blue lizard's legs and said, "Here, let me help you up." She then applied all of her might to pull her out and toss her into the air.

Scorbunny latched her legs onto Toxtricity's midsection all the while and signalled Vaporeon to come over. Thus the blue fox leapt over to her, took hold of her shoulders and swung her upward, allowing her to hurl the yellow lizard up to his sister's level without putting a strain on herself.

The Steaming Boilers then leapt above their opponents and linked their arms together with their upper backs turned to one-another. Once again, Vaporeon's tail was covered in ice and Scorbunny's feet were engulfed him flame as they spread their bodies out and shouted, "BAKED ALASKAN ANVIL!"

Sure enough, the lizards took in extreme pain when Vaporeon's ice landed on Toxtricity's chest and Scorbunny's feet hit Sutorinda's gut. And it only got worse for them when their backs hit the canvas hard, the area filled with cheers and applause.

Vaporeon breathed heavily and smiled at Scorbunny while Nori started the ten count. The female rabbit patted her partner on the shoulder as Butterfree stated, "To say the Steaming Boilers have made a comeback would be an understatement! Just as it looked like they couldn't possibly get the upper hand back, they manage to pull it off with three incredible team moves!"

But just as Nori reached nine seconds, Toxtricity's eyes widened before he flipped himself back onto his feet. He then took a deep breath and helped his sister up before she managed to recover herself. A smirk then formed on her face as she said, "Okay, I gotta admit, that was pretty damn badass. But no matter how awesome you two are, you're still not-"

"Don't you dare!" Scorbunny retorted with her eye twitching, Toxtricity sighing, "Impressive comeback aside, you're still going down. We spent hours working on our Overdrive to make it as versatile as it is now, and we're gonna take full advantage of that."

And so, both lizards formed their strings once more before the yellow lizard said, "Hey, sis, I just came up with a new song. We may not have been able to use it for the entrance, but we can use it now."

Sutorinda grinned and replied, "Hell yeah! I think I might even know the lyrics to it!" Vaporeon uttering, "How does that make an iota of sense?"

However, she shook her head and turned to Scorbunny with a nod of her head. They knew exactly how to avoid all three of Overdrive's modes after seeing them in action. There was no way they would fall victim to it again.

But Toxtricity and Sutorinda seemed fully confident when they barked, "OVERDRIVE!" and strummed on their electric strings. Sure enough, Vaporeon and Scorbunny easily jumped over the sound waves, but what happened next was truly shocking, for when the waves hit the ropes, they split up into five separate segments each and bounced off in random directions.

Sure enough, one wave struck each Steaming Boiler in the back while Toxtricity chuckled and sang, "You look rather shocked, but I don't blame you one bit! This forth and final mode of ours can pack a nasty hit!" more waves running into them, "It may be the weakest of the four, but that's 'cause it will not miss! By the time this round is over, it's our asses you will kiss!"

Since Vaporeon and Scorbunny were vulnerable, the lizards switched to the drill mode before Sutorinda added, "I'll admit that together, you make for an awesome team, but you'll never measure up to us! You understand just what we mean!?" a burn once again forming on each opponent's gut, "You may be awesome dudettes, but you never could be us! No doubt in the end, you both will turn to dust!"

Both ended their song as Vaporeon and Scorbunny knelt down and clutched onto their guts. Both felt weak from all the electricity they had succumbed to throughout this match, Scorbunny whimpering, "You know, if Zeraora had fought them, he probably could have resisted this."

The cat bit his lower lip when he heard this, Toxtricity nodding at Sutorinda before both leapt backward into the ropes, ignoring the pain this dealt to their feet. The two faced each other sideways and held onto one-another before they bounced off and spun like a wheel toward the Steaming Boilers. Their frills had sparks around them as they shouted, "LIGHTNING SAW!"

But just as it looked like the attack would land, Zeraora removed his fedora, stood up and spat, "COME ON, GUYS! DODGE IT! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!" Vaporeon and Scorbunny's eyes wide with shock. Sure enough, this gave them just the confidence they needed, thus they ignored the pain dealt to them and leapt into the air.

Scorbunny lit her feet on fire while Vaporeon formed her ice ball, the duo flipping vertically and planting both into their opponents' sides while shouting, "BOUNCING INFERNO MACE!"

The Electric Metal Heads coughed up blood and fell hard against the canvas as the crowd cheered wildly, Beedrill blinking and saying, "Well, it would seem whatever Zeraora's business was is finished as he's here to give his teammate the support she needs." Butterfree and Nori simply turned to one-another and shrugged their shoulders.

Vaporeon breathed heavily and smiled at Zeraora with a light tear in her eye. She could not believe he had come back to support her, but even so, this was all she needed. Thus she grinned at Scorbunny and said, "Let's finish this."

The blue fox ran over to Toxtricity and lifted him up. She then flipped him upside-down and curled her tail into a spring, she and Scorbunny leaping high into the air before the female rabbit wrapped her arms and legs around the yellow lizard from the front. To make things even worse for him, Vaporeon wrapped her tail around his neck and formed her ice ball to send a cold chill down his spine while Scorbunny lit her feet on fire to fill him up with intense heat.

At that moment, the yellow lizard opened his eyes and grunted, "No!" before he wrapped his arms around Scorbunny and covered them in electricity as he barked, "HIGH VOLTAGE GLOVES!"

But while this sent a powerful surge through Scorbunny, she ignored it with a smirk before she and Vaporeon descended toward Sutorinda's gut. Toxtricity panicked and spat, "Sis, roll to the side, now!" only for her to just barely regain enough focus to see this.

Sure enough, the yellow lizard's skull made contact with her as she coughed up blood, the Steaming Boilers exclaiming, "ALASKAN ERUPTION!"

Sutorinda coughed up blood while her brother grimaced in pain. He then uttered, "Well, you're definitely not us. You're better," his eyes rolling to the back of his head before Scorbunny and Vaporeon released their hold.

Sure enough, the lizards were out cold, thus Nori started the ten count while Beedrill exclaimed, "And with another incredible team move, the Steaming Boilers knock the electric duo out cold! But let's see if this is for good!"

Zeraora smiled and shouted, "Way to go! I knew you could do it!" Vaporeon and Scorbunny smiling sweetly at him. And of course, the others joined in with their own cheers, Raboot shouting, "Yeah! That's how you do it! She really is a chip off the old block, that Scorbunny!"

"You do know what that saying actually means, right?" Blaziken uttered as Leafeon and Jolteon pursed their lips.

Nori reached ten seconds and rang the bell, exclaiming, "After one of the most intense matches so far, our winners are The Steaming Boilers! These two powerful warriors will compete in the finals!"

The area erupted with cheers and applause while Dialga stared wide-eyed and growled, "Dammit, I should have come up with a gimmick that would hinder them specifically. I was too focused on our own match to even consider that."

"It's fine," Palkia replied with a shrug, "If we can beat Machoke and Gardevoir, those two will be easy pickings," before the blue dragon sighed, "You're right. At least your idea's actually creative. Seriously, spiked ropes? That's too obvious."

Zeraora got up from his seat and ran toward the ring before the others got up and did the same. And of course, from the hospital, Morgrem and Rolycoly both clapped lightly so not to make too much noise. Now they really wished they could be there and cheer as loud as they wanted to.

And of course, Hitmonchan smiled sweetly at Gallade, rested her hand against his and said, "They did it, honey. They won," before leaning over and planting a kiss on his forehead.

Blaziken grinned at Scorbunny and exclaimed, "Wow, that was badass!" Machoke and Gardevoir patting Vaporeon on the back. And of course Raboot grinned and said, "Well, any relative of mine has to be badass. It runs in the family, you know," waving his hand through his ears as if they were hair.

Leafeon and Jolteon chuckled as they thought something similar, Vaporeon turning to Zeraora and saying, "Thank you so much for coming back. I thought you left," only for the cat to retort, "I never said I was leaving. I just said I needed time to think."

The blue fox blinked and uttered, "Wow, I really misread that," grinning nervously before the cat sighed, "I thought hard about it, and honestly, I have no reason to be mad at you. Like I said before, you shaped me into the fighter I am today. You gave me a purpose, another reason to keep on living. Besides, I only agreed to train under you so I could get revenge. I kinda used you for my own benefit too. And honestly, the fact that I won three matches in this tournament is incredible."

"Well, we could increase that number to four," Vaporeon replied only for Zeraora to sigh, "I dunno. You and Scorbunny work really well to-"

At that exact moment, Scorbunny's eyes widened and her body twitched. She then fell to her knee and grunted, "What's going on?" clutching onto her chest before she fell forward and passed out.

All went silent as Machoke immediately called for a medic to come over and inspect her. No one knew what had happened, but they all hoped the female rabbit would be okay.


	32. Chapter 32

While Vaporeon and Scorbunny had won their match and advanced to the finals, there was just one problem. Scorbunny passed out shortly after the match ended. And it was not long until she was rushed to a nearby infirmary so the medical staff could find out if she needed to go to the hospital or not. Of course, her friends joined them to make sure she was alright. Luckily, they could afford to do this since the next match was an hour away, so they had no risk of missing any of the action.

After a little time, one of the medics said, "Well, it's nothing too serious. It seems that electric shock dealt more damage to her than we first thought and she had a delayed reaction to it. She'll likely wake up in a few hours, but just to be on the safe side, we're going to have to relocate her to the hospital."

"Okay," Vaporeon replied with a light smile before she kissed Scorbunny's forehead and whispered, "Get well soon, okay?"

After the female rabbit was taken out of the area on a stretcher, Blaziken sighed, "At least it's nothing too serious. Still, I hope she wakes up soon. It's painful having so many of our friends in the hospital."

Machoke nodded before Gardevoir tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, darling, maybe we should prepare for our match. We only have a little less than an hour," the reptilian nodding and replying, "Right," before smiling and giving a light wave to the others.

After the couple exited the infirmary, Zeraora bit his lower lip and rested a hand on Vaporeon's shoulder as he sighed, "I'm so sorry you have to deal with this," Vaporeon nodding and replying, "I'm not too worried. Scorbunny's tough. She'll be up and at it in no time."

"Damn straight," Blaziken replied with a grin, "That bunny's one of the toughest heroes I've ever met. Really makes me wonder why I never heard of her before this tournament," Raboot nodding and saying, "Seriously, you'd think heroes this amazing would have tons of news coverage."

"Speaking of stuff we didn't know about before," Leafeon enquired, "Why did she call you darling during your match?" Vaporeon chuckling nervously and replying, "Oh, yeah, we became a thing yesterday. I can only imagine how the others will react to that."

Jolteon bit her lower lip only for Leafeon look at her and shake her head. She then turned to Vaporeon and said, "Well, we're happy for you," Zeraora uttering, "Wow, maybe someday, I'll find my special someone, too."

Suddenly, the blue fox's stomach growled before she chuckled, "Guess we should probably have lunch before we cheer for Machoke and Gardevoir. It's a shame not everyone could join us," the group exiting the area and heading to the cafeteria.

While they headed off, Vaporeon thought, 'I'm not gonna let this get to me. If anything, Scorbunny would want for me to focus on this next match and see how it goes. It's like she said. There is a chance that Machoke and Gardevoir could lose, and if they do, I need to watch closely for any tactics that could work against Dialga and Palkia.'

All the while, the dragons were both hard at work while Dialga said, "Alright, this is the match where we'll pull out all the stops. Even if Vaporeon sees all of our skills in action, she sure as Hell won't be ready for any of them."

"Exactly," Palkia replied with a smile, "I've been thinking a lot about this, actually. Why don't we just reveal that we're villains after we win this match? Let's face it, with the world champions defeated, no sane hero would even think to oppose us."

"Indeed, but I feel like in order to truly instill fear upon the world, we'll have to make it into the number one spot," the blue dragon explained, "You know, my initial goal was to wipe out all of the heroes of this time line, but I've been thinking about how great it would be if we had all the world's heroes at our beck and call instead."

"But what if they think about rebelling against us?" Palkia enquired, Dialga nodding and replying, "I have to say, I'm impressed you thought of that. Indeed, the possibility has certainly crossed my mind. But with how much power we have, it won't matter. Let them rebel against us. They'll grovel at our knees soon enough. And if their children think of training in secret, we'll make sure it doesn't happen."

The purple dragon rose her finger only to blink and say, "Wow, you really thought of everything. You're amazing," before Dialga nodded and used his claws to chop off the top of a sandbag.

After an hour passed, the bleachers were once again filled, save for one seat that should have been occupied by Scorbunny. Vaporeon looked at it and bit her lower lip before she shook her head and thought, 'Nope, not going back on my thoughts.'

Zeraora smiled and said, "Hey, it probably seems a tad insensitive to say this, but if Scorbunny doesn't get any better in time for-" only for the blue fox to chuckle, "Look, you've been my teammate since this tournament started. You really think one match is gonna change that?"

The cat's eyes sparkled while she added, "I only really agreed to change teammates because I felt like I had to. Now that I know you're still with me, I'm more than happy to take you back."

Jolteon beamed bright and squealed, "Wow, that is so sweet! Don't you love friendship!? I love friendship! Friendship is wonder-" only for Leafeon to press her finger up against the yellow fox's lips and sigh, "You're being kind of obnoxious right now."

Beedrill took a seat behind the desk once more and stated, "Well, folks, that was quite the first match, but this one promises to be much better! In the red corner, we have the new advisers of Hero Planet! Both have pulled off a number of impressive feats so far and are sure to amaze us even more today! Give it up for the Time Space Squad!"

The crowd cheered when Palkia flew into the area with Dialga's shoulders in her arms once again. However, this time she took things a step further and flew high up until both were in front of the sun. She tossed the blue dragon up onto her back and performed a variety of flips before she dove toward the mat, planting her hands against the surface. Dialga ended the routine when he flipped off of her back and landed perfectly on his feet.

Raboot blinked and uttered, "I swear, they just keep doing the same thing every time while trying to make it look different," Vaporeon grumbling, "I can think of far worse things to get after them for."

Once the crowd calmed down, Butterfree exclaimed, "And in the blue corner is Tokyo's most popular tag team! Having won the last Ultimate World Team Tournament, they've done a great job defending their title so far! With strength, skill and beauty, they are the Glamourous Fighting Machines!"

The crowd stared when Machoke and Gardevoir both entered the area with serious looks in their eyes. Just like Vaporeon and Scorbunny, they went with a more simple entrance as she walked toward the ring. But while the Steaming Boilers taking this approach was a little surprising, this left the audience stunned. Sure, Machoke was not exactly a stranger to serious entrances, but he normally saved them for the finals of every tournament he partook in, never the semis.

Either way, he and Gardevoir still added a little spice to the entrance. Machoke, for instance, wore a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders and shades over his eyes. Gardevoir, along with her usual jersey and collar, also had her hair spiked up, just like the first time she ever fought on Earth.

When the couple entered the ring, they both held their hands downward while aiming their pointing fingers and pinkies toward the mat's surface and grunted, "Yer roadkill, suckas!"

Palkia and Dialga stared silently at this. Both had looked so dignified until that exact moment. But while the citizens of Tokyo saw this as embarrassing and only applauded Gardevoir out of pity back in the day, now they saw it as an homage to her and Machoke's debut matches. Therefor, they all clapped and cheered wildly while the reptilian man and the white woman looked at each other with big open-mouth smiles.

"Wow, to think something that stupid could become so poetic," Blaziken chuckled, "Still, I have to admit, it's actually kinda cute when they do it together."

"Wait, they've done this before?" Vaporeon uttered before Zeraora stared at her with shock. He could not believe there was something he knew about a hero that she did not.

Nori, all the while, beamed bright and bit her lower lip. She knew she had to be neutral, but this was the first proper entrance she had ever seen from one of Tokyo's heroes now reenacted. And when Beedrill saw this, he let out a sigh and nodded his head to her, saying, "Just this once, okay?"

"Thank you, sir," Nori replied before she squealed, "WHOO! THAT WAS AWESOME!" clapping her hands over her head while Butterfree uttered, "Wait, I don't get it. What's the big deal?"

After a few more seconds, Gardevoir's hair returned to normal as she squealed, "Hey, that took longer than usual!" Palkia's eyes sparkling while she uttered, "Oh my god, how did you do that? It's exactly like it was before, no split ends or anything."

"Oh, my hair's always been like that," the white woman giggled before Machoke rested a hand on her shoulder, lowered his shades and whispered, "You remember these two might be evil, right?" Gardevoir nodding with her arms folded while she grunted in a forced deep voice, "Your praise means nothing, asshole!" spitting a small drop of saliva over the side of the ring.

Leafeon stared at this and uttered, "Wow, those two are perfect for each other," Gardevoir and Machoke removing their street clothes and tossing them out of the ring. Dialga simply folded his arms and chuckled, "I heard you were a funny man, Machoke, and now I believe it. I just hope you still take us seriously as opponents."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Machoke retorted, "After what you did to Aipom, Diancie and Hawlucha, how could I not?"

"Good," Dialga replied before extending his hand. And as much as Machoke did not want to shake it, he also did not want to seem like a poor sport. Thus he took hold of the hand and shook it only to tighten his grip and whisper, "By the way, I know your secret. This is as far as you get."

Dialga's eyes widened when Machoke let go and nodded at Gardevoir. The couple headed to their own side of the ring before Palkia blinked and asked, "Hey, Dialga, is something wrong?"

The blue dragon shook his head and replied, "No, I'm fine. It's nothing to be truly concerned about," but while he and his partner moved to their own side, he thought, 'He can't possibly mean what I think he does! There's no way he could know that! But it doesn't matter! If he does know that, he still can't win! Rillaboom and Aipom were the only ones with a strategy that could really work against us and they're both in the hospital.'

When Machoke and Gardevoir saw Dialga's face, they tried their hardest not to look shocked. This one reaction proved that Shaymin was right about them. After all, if Dialga and Palkia had nothing to hide, Machoke's words would have garnered confusion as opposed to shock. Now there was no way they would hold back against these two.

"Before I forget, there's still the gimmick for this match as well," Beedrill stated, "For this one, we actually decided to keep the iron turnbuckles as they add a little something do this."

He then directed everyone's attention up as the crowd looked in that very direction. Sure enough, a chopper flew overhead with a massive cage attached to a hook under it. The pilot slowly lowered it until it covered the entire ring, Machoke and Gardevoir narrowing their eyelids.

But while this was surprising enough to the audience, they were even more shocked when a staff member plugged in a chord that was attached to it. Volts of electricity circled the entire structure as everyone stared with wonder.

"That's right, folks!" Butterfree explained, "This is an electric cage match! Whoever hits this cage will not only experience harsh pain but also a pretty big shock to say the least! This was a special request from Palkia herself, so we can thank her for this one!"

While the crowd cheered for her, Blaziken gritted her teeth and growled, "I'm not entirely sure how this benefits them, but I bet it will somehow! I get the feeling Machoke was right about this! Those two will need to be careful!"

"I'm sure they can handle it," Zeraora replied, "Those two can handle anything, right?" the chicken nodding and sighing, "Yeah, you're probably right," though the others were not so sure about that. Even so, they fully intended to be as supportive as possible, so they would not let this get to them.

Nori looked back and forth between the teams and exclaimed, "Well, folks, this is it, the match that will decide our finalists! And so, without further ado, let us begin!" before she rang the bell.

Machoke and Gardevoir immediately raced toward Dialga and Palkia while the reptilian nodded at his wife. She quickly returned the gesture when the dragons readied themselves to counter. However, they figured a counterattack would be unnecessary when Machoke lifted Gardevoir up and hurled her toward them with her arms spread out.

"Do they seriously think this will hurt us?" Dialga chuckled, "Were they even paying attention to our second match? Everyone should know we can handle-"

However, his and Palkia's eyes went wide when a violet aura suddenly surrounded Gardevoir's hands and her arms struck their necks, the white woman squealing, "DOUBLE MOON HOOK!"

The Time Space Squad were genuinely shocked as they cried out in pain and flew backward into the ropes. Then when they bounced off, Gardevoir smirked and took hold of each one's arm, swinging them around and hurling them into the cage wall, each one sent into a different side.

On top of electricity coursing through the dragons, the impact proved very effective when both gritted their teeth with their eyes wide open. Dialga could not believe this. They should have been able to handle flying into metal, but thanks to Gardevoir's power up, the collission had dealt just as much to them as it would have dealt to anyone else without it.

Palkia, all the while, looked disappointed that her plan seemed to have failed only for the blue dragon to growl, "Come on, that was pure luck. We can still defeat them," the purple dragon taking a deep breath and nodding before she flew toward the white woman.

Dialga also pushed himself away from the cage and aimed a flying kick toward her only for Machoke to leap in and take hold of his ankle. He then swung the blue dragon around and sent him into the side of the cage that Palkia hit. More electricity coursed through him while the crowd went wild.

"And the Glamourous Fighting Machines are off to an amazing start!" Beedrill exclaimed, "Gardevoir has truly surprised us all by activating the Beaulieu family power immediately! Normally, she would hold off on that until a dire situation came up, but she's mixing things up!"

"It makes sense, though," Butterfree replied, "As we saw from the first two rounds, Dialga and Palkia are both incredibly tough, so much so that they can take in all sorts of damage without feeling pain. The only reason Rillaboom and Aipom did so well was because they had the two of them strike each other, and since they're less likely to fall for that, it only stands to reason that Gardevoir would want to soften them up now instead of doing so later."

Vaporeon and Zeraora grinned along with the others. They had a feeling the Glamourous Fighting Machines would do well, but not this well so early on. It was clear why they were the world champions.

"Dammit!" Dialga grunted before he once again leapt away from the cage wall, "I should have known they'd come up with something like that!" Palkia biting her lower lip as he thought, 'At least the electricity doesn't hurt us all that much, so that gimmick hasn't exactly turned against us yet. Even so, there's no going back. Just like Rillaboom and Aipom, Gardevoir has already made us vulnerable. But just like them, they'll still fall to us.'

With that in mind, he took a deep breath and said, "Palkia, it pains me to say this, but I think we're going to have to take the coward's way out of this situation, at least until that power wears off."

The purple dragon stared with confusion but soon nodded and flew over to the blue dragon before she took hold of his shoulders. He nodded before she threw him onto her back and soared toward Machoke and Gardevoir. When the reptilian saw this, he frowned and grunted, "Honey, be careful. I get the feeling now that they know what we're doing, they'll probably try to throw us off guard like they did to Aipom and Rillaboom."

The white woman nodded and examined them closely, and sure enough, it seemed as if the dragons would try that when Palkia flew into the air after she closed in on them. But while the two waited for them to attempt a sneak attack, everyone stared when, as per Dialga's instructions, the purple dragon remained in the air with her arms folded.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we've realized that power of yours is a genuine threat to us, Gardevoir," Palkia stated with a smirk, "So we're just gonna remain up here until those three minutes wear off," Leafeon blinking and asking, "Did she seriously just reveal their plan?"

Dialga's eye twitched as he growled, "Why not just reveal our plan to the entire world!? Seriously, do you even know how to shut your trap!?" Machoke smirking and saying, "Well, honey, you heard her. Guess we'll have to go to them."

"Should we set up for-?" Gardevoir enquired only for Machoke to shake his head and reply, "They might be prepared for that. You leap up toward them and I'll wait down here just in case."

The white woman nodded and leapt backward onto the top rope. She then bounced up toward the dragons held her arms over her head and pressed her feet up against each other. She arched her body back to form a moon shape and started to spin toward them like a boomerang while she squealed, "MOONLIGHT BLADE!"

Dialga smirked and said, "Hook, line and sinker," before he leapt off Palkia's back and spun toward Gardevoir with his claws out, shouting, "METAL DRAGON DRILL!" a blue aura covering his body before he planted his claws into Gardevoir's gut.

Machoke gasped, "HONEY!" the white woman crying out in pain. Despite her power providing her with additional defence, Dialga was more than strong enough to bypass that and deal a good amount of damage regardless. But Machoke could not focus too much on this when Palkia descended toward him after she turned her body a darker shade of purple and covered her claws with pink energy.

"SPACIAL REND!" she exclaimed before she threw her claws downward only for the reptilian man to leap to the side. Unfortunately, it seemed as if she had hoped he would do that when she whipped out her tail and latched it onto his neck. She then flung him backward into the cage wall before he cried out in pain, electricity coursing through him.

Dialga flew forward until he rammed Gardevoir's back into the cage right next to Machoke. And sure enough, she had the exact same response while the others stared in horror. The dragons had already proven themselves insanely powerful up until now, but it seemed as if they were even worse now.

Even so, thanks to her power, Gardevoir was able to ignore the pain from the electricity to a certain degree. Thus she rose her hands and sent her heels downward into the back of Dialga's neck. He gritted his teeth but kept his claws in her gut while blood trickled down only for her to reel her arms back and send her hands forward into his face.

This got the blue dragon to finally release her before he flew backward and landed on his feet. At this moment, Machoke was finally able to pry himself away from the cage wall, but just from the one strike he took in, he already felt weak. As if Dialga was not strong enough, the electric cage made things even more difficult.

Even so, he could not give up yet, thus he asked, "How much longer do you have?" Gardevoir looking up at the sun and replying, "A little less than a minute," while Dialga and Palkia both prepared themselves for more.

"Hey, are you alright?" the purple dragon asked, "She hit you a couple more times," only for Dialga to reply, "Yeah, but those hits weren't as powerful as the ones before. I'm sure I'll be fine."

However, both dragons needed to brace themselves when Machoke lifted Gardevoir up and hurled her toward them. The white woman once again spread her arms out, only this time, the Time Space Squad were ready and leapt over her. Luckily, Machoke had expected this, thus he leapt backward onto the top rope and launched himself toward them before planting his own arms into their necks.

This distracted them just long enough for Gardevoir to lift up her arms and take hold of their ankles. She then swung them downward and planted their backs into the canvas right before her power left her. As such, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It seems like I've weakened them enough not to need the power anymore."

The crowd cheered as Zeraora said, "Man, they get out of tight spots even better than you and your friends do. If anyone can put these two in their place, it's them."

Vaporeon was a tad surprised to hear Zeraora talking like that. Sure, she expected him to be supportive, but his tone and the wording made it sound as if he somehow knew the dragons were on the side of evil. But how could he know that?

Whatever the case, now that Gardevoir's power was gone, Dialga no longer felt like he had a true reason to fear her. Thus he sighed, "Well, they made us vulnerable, but it doesn't matter. We can still beat them, right?" Palkia nodding before the dragons placed their hands against the canvas and propelled themselves toward their opponents with their feet out.

Machoke and Gardevoir both latched onto their ankles and leaned backward with every intent to slam them into the canvas. Unfortunately, Dialga and Palkia saw this coming, thus they leaned inward just in time to latch onto their opponent's legs. And with all their might, they managed to leap into the air and flip one hundred and eighty degrees, planting the back of Machoke and Gardevoir's heads into the canvas. The heroes' eyes widened as they coughed up blood for the first time in the match, unable to believe that this hurt as much as it did.

"Things were looking up for the Glamourous Fighting Machines, but it would seem the Time Space Squad has gotten the upper hand back with an impressive reversal," Nori stated, "As if that's not enough, they appear to have dealt far more damage than they should have with that."

Of course, things only got worse when the dragons released Machoke and Gardevoir and Palkia lifted Dialga into the air. Once they were high enough, she dropped him before he spread his legs out in a splits formation and planted them into the heroes' necks, causing them to cough up more blood.

"I'll admit, using that power of yours at the beginning of the match was smart," Dialga grunted with his arms folded, "But not even heroes as strong as you hold a candle to us. Just watch. We'll be the new world champions soon enough."


	33. Chapter 33

Things had started strong for the Glamourous Fighting Machines. Thanks to Gardevoir's power, Dialga and Palkia were vulnerable enough to take in pain from every move they used. But this hardly seemed to matter as Dialga's legs were pressed up against their necks.

When he noticed them lift up their arms to grab onto him, he immediately leapt off of them, bent his knees downward and planted his feet into their chests. Thus the heroes coughed up blood before he leapt off of them and had Palkia grab onto each one's ankle. After that, she flew into the air and leaned backward, barking, "Let's see you pull off the same counter we did!"

Unfortunately, Machoke and Gardevoir felt a tad winded right now, thus they were unable to prevent their upper backs from being slammed into the canvas while the crowd watched with concern. Even Beedrill and Nori could not help but feel a tad worried, though as announcers, they could not show it. Besides, it would seem especially unprofessional for the wasp to cheer against his own employees.

"Alright, what say we use some real moves against them?" Dialga suggested before Palkia nodded and lifted him up by his shoulders. She flew forward just in time for Machoke and Gardevoir to rise to their feet. Unfortunately, this was especially bad timing for them as they took Dialga's claws to their back before he exclaimed, "METAL DRAGON LANCE!"

Both cried out in pain only to spread out their legs and stop themselves to flying forward. Dialga blinked when Machoke shifted his arm backward and placed it against the one that had struck him. Gardevoir followed suit before she and her husband lifted their legs into the air. This allowed them to descend toward the mat and plant Dialga's belly into it.

After they pried themselves away from his claws, they took hold of a spellbound Palkia, lifted her up over their heads and leaned backward, slamming her skull into the canvas. The area erupted with cheers and applause while Vaporeon breathed a sigh of relief, Blaziken uttering, "Man, I have to admit, I was a little worried back there. Granted, they deal with similar situations all the time, but still."

Machoke and Gardevoir nodded at one-another before the reptilian lifted up Palkia and leapt into the air. The white woman then did the same with Dialga, only she picked him up by his hind legs. She then leapt up and positioned herself right below her husband before she wrapped her arms and legs around the blue dragon's neck and midsection.

Machoke latched his legs onto Palkia's neck and spread her arms out while the crowd watched with anticipation, Beedrill's eyes sparkling as he exclaimed, "Oh my god, are they gonna use the Muscle Tombstone!?" only to clear his throat and say, "It looks as if the Glamourous Fighting Machines are setting up for the same move Machamp and Combusken used back in the day to win this same tournament themselves."

"No way," Vaporeon uttered, "I've heard stories of this move. To think we get to see it up close," Raboot and Leafeon nodding. Sure, they had actually seen it themselves since Machoke and Hawlucha used it four years ago to defeat two snakes named Seviper and Arbok, but this was still a big deal.

But just as Dialga's skull was seconds away from making contact with the mat, his eyes widened before he growled, "No!" and used all his might to break his arms free from Gardevoir's hold. Her eyes were wide with terror as he threw the arms downward and allowed his palms to hit the mat instead, Palkia sliding her arms out of Machoke's hold and using them to keep her skull from hitting her partner's feet.

The entire area went silent as even the announcers had no idea how to respond to this. No one could believe what they had just witnessed while Lucario, Amanda and Veronica all breathed heavily from the back row. Sure, the dog may have found a way to defeat each of Machoke's first three finishing moves in the Olympics, but even he had no clue how to counter a move like that up until now.

Things only got worse when the dragons allowed themselves to fall backwards and plant their opponents' backs into the canvas. This caused them to wince in pain and release their holds before Dialga rose to his feet and chuckled, "You know, Machoke, I heard that the whole reason you lost the Olympic finals was because you tried to use your best move too early. It seems like you haven't learned a thing since then."

Gardevoir rose back to her feet and growled, "You take that back!" only to look down at Machoke to notice that he was breathing rather heavily with a look of horror in his eyes. Right now, all he could think about was the fact that his father's ultimate team move had just failed.

The white woman had a look of concern, but after a few seconds, a cold look formed in her eyes before she lifted him up by his shoulders and smacked him hard in the face, snapping, "Earth to Machoke!"

The reptilian man blinked and uttered, "Oh, sorry, I spaced out for a second there," before he sighed, "Dammit, and it was difficult mastering that move, too."

"Come on, it's not like this is the first time that's happened," Gardevoir grunted, "Now forget about it and get your head back in the game!"

Machoke stared at his wife for a few seconds. He had never seen her like this. But while it was a touch intimidating, he also needed it. Thus he nodded and replied, "Of course, honey. We beat Hoopa in his most powerful state. We can handle these two."

With that in mind, he glared at Dialga and grunted, "Okay, it's impressive you were able to pull that off, but that won't happen again!" the blue dragon sighing, "Care to put your money where your mouth is?"

Machoke nodded before he and Gardevoir raced forward. Just as the dragons were ready to fight back, the white woman swerved to the side and sent a palm punch into Palkia's cheek while the reptilian slid under Dialga's legs and rammed his arms into his ankles, causing him to fall hard on his chin.

The crowd cheered when Machoke mounted himself onto Dialga's back and lifted his legs up. He then bent them backward for a Boston crab while Gardevoir unleashed a barrage of palm punches to the same spot she had struck. Needless to say, the crowd was ecstatic as the couple's friends smiled with relief.

Hitmonchan watched this with a grin and squealed, "That's Machoke and Gardevoir for you! Those two can overcome anything!" She then smiled at Gallade and said, "I wish you were awake to see this, honey. Not only have Toxtricity and Sutorinda lost, but your sister's gonna compete in the finals again."

After a few seconds, Machoke could feel Dialga start to fight back. Thus he stood up while still gripping the blue dragon's legs and hurled him high into the air. He then leapt up to Dialga's level and latched onto his wrists and feet, pulling backward and bending his back hard.

"You know what?" Machoke grunted, "I'm no longer upset about you defeating my family's Muscle Tombstone! After all, that's a combination of two other moves that have already been beaten once! This, on the other hand, has never been bested!"

He then flipped upside-down and spun like a twister toward the canvas as he shouted, "MUSCLE TORNADO!" The crowd went wild when the back of Dialga's head hit the canvas hard.

The blue dragon's eyes and mouth were wide as he coughed up blood. Palkia gasped, "Dialga!" only for Gardevoir to lean down and take hold of her hind legs as well. She then leapt high above the mat with the purple dragon and wrapped her legs around her neck, squealing, "METEOR WARHEAD!" Palkia coughed up blood as well when her skull hit the mat, Amanda breathing a sigh of relief.

"That's more like it," she stated, "Those two moves have never been countered. It makes more sense to use them," Lucario chuckling, "Easy does it, Meisai," the brunette slugging her brother on the arm and retorting, "That was one time!"

But while the Glamourous Fighting Machines had dealt a lot of damage with these moves, this was still far from over. And it showed when Dialga and Palkia flipped back to their feet and tried not to breathe too heavily. The last thing they wanted was for their opponents to know how effective their moves had been.

Even so, the blue dragon could see why these two had such a strong reputation. They really were the toughest opponents he and Palkia could have faced in this tournament. But even so, Dialga was determined to make sure victory would be his no matter what.

With that in mind, he raced toward Machoke while Palkia flew toward Gardevoir. But just as the couple were ready to dodge again, the dragons nodded at one-another and switched targets. Dialga leapt sideways toward Gardevoir and sent a roundhouse into her face as Palkia turned her body dark purple, covered her claws in a pink energy and yelled, "SPACIAL REND!" slashing open Machoke's side.

The reptilian cried out in agonizing pain before the purple dragon lifted him up by his shoulders and flew him toward the cage wall, exclaiming, "DRAGON RUSH!" ramming his face hard into it.

Once again, Machoke not only took in extreme pain, but electricity coursed through him while blood started to drip from his nostrils. Of course, Gardevoir would not have it so easy either as Dialga kicked her in the gut before sending another strike into her shin. Finally, he delivered one last blow to her chin and sent her flying away from him.

The white woman fell hard on her back before Leafeon winced and groaned, "Dammit, they were doing so well," only for Vaporeon to fold her arms and retort, "It's not over yet. You've seen how much abuse they've taken in up to this point. They can handle this."

It seemed as if Machoke would need to take action soon, though, when Palkia continued to hold onto his shoulders and flew toward the other side of the cage, this time ramming his upper back into it. After he succumbed to more electricity, Palkia flew toward the first side again while Gardevoir noticed this and squeaked in panic.

The white woman frowned and fumed at the head before she noticed Dialga leap toward her with his leg stretched out for an axe kick. As such, she rolled to the side just in time to avoid him before she took hold of his ankle. She then twisted it as hard as she could, causing him to cry out in pain and fall on his side before she stood up and panted heavily, watching Palkia's movement.

Everyone wondered what she was up to including the announcers, but all became clear when Gardevoir noticed Palkia fly toward the western side of the ring and hurled a stunned Dialga toward her. The purple dragon cried out in terror when she noticed this, the blue dragon's skull hitting her in the cheek.

Much like when he flew into her in the previous match, this dealt far more damage than anything Machoke and Gardevoir had dealt up to this point. As a result, Palkia flew upward until her skull hit the cage's ceiling, Gardevoir diving toward where Machoke descended and catching him right before he could hit the mat.

Dialga and Palkia, on the other hand, landed hard against the surface before the blue dragon grumbled curses under his breath. Both slowly rose to their feet and were unable to hide how much this had hurt. The purple dragon gulped nervously and uttered, "Um, Dialga, we can still win this match, right?"

"Of course we can," the blue dragon retorted, "This was to be expected. There's a reason these two are the tag team champions. Of course they'd be a challenge. Still, I wasn't expecting them to be this tough. We'll really have to kick things up a notch now."

With that in mind, Dialga formed his blue aura again while Palkia turned her body dark purple. The blue dragon leapt toward Machoke with both feet out while the purple dragon flew toward Gardevoir with her claws at the ready.

When Dialga closed in, though, Machoke thought, 'No, we are not losing the advantage again!' and instinctively wrapped his arms around himself. The crowd stared in wonder when the kick dealt no damage to the boy, a look of relief on his face as Gardevoir leaned backward far enough to avoid Palkia's attack.

However, Dialga quickly knew what was going on as he smirked and said, "This must be the infamous Mach Cover. I heard this gave you a temporary edge over Lucario. Unfortunately, I've also done plenty of research on how he defeated this move, and as you can see, I have the means to do it," lashing out his claws.

Machoke tensed up and was just about to release his cover only for Dialga to send his arms forward and jab his claws into the reptilian's arms. While said arms provided some protection, this still hurt as blood flew out of him and he cried out in pain.

Dialga then leapt into the air, leaned backward and shouted, "METAL DRAGON SUPLEX!" ramming Machoke's skull into the canvas.

Lucario gritted his teeth and growled, "Dammit, he's got both weaknesses down, the two things that can defeat the Mach Cover, anything that can pierce flesh and falling from great heights."

Dialga removed his claws and allowed Machoke to collapse while Palkia continued to miss Gardevoir. Unfortunately, since Gardevoir was distracted, Dialga took full advantage of this and sent a flying kick into the side of the white woman's head. This left her dazed before Palkia flew toward her and barked, "SPACIAL REND!" slashing her back open.

Gardevoir cried out in pain and fell forward while Vaporeon bit her lower lip and thought, 'They can still win, right?' Blaziken frowning and grunting, "Dammit, that right there is why Machoke doesn't typically rely on the Mach Cover. If only he'd tried something different."

Raboot shrugged and replied, "Well, if what you say about him is true, this still shouldn't be enough to finish him off, right?" the chicken nodding and replying, "Damn straight. Those two will get the upper hand again soon enough."

Machoke and Gardevoir would need to act soon, though, when Dialga lifted the reptilian back up and wrapped his arm around his neck. Palkia then flew toward Gardevoir and lifted her up by her shoulders before she turned toward Machoke and flew the white woman head-first into his gut. Then with both of them together, the dragons released them and backed away from them. Dialga leapt toward Machoke from behind with his leg raised as Palkia flew at Gardevoir with her arm out, her skin dark purple and her arm pink.

"SPACIAL WHACK LARIAT!" the dragons exclaimed before Dialga sent his foot into Machoke's neck and Palkia slammed her arm into Gardevoir's. The Glamourous Fighting Machines coughed up more blood and fell to their knees while the audience could not help but look concerned.

To make matters worse, Palkia proceeded to lift up Gardevoir with her tail and flung her toward the ropes, Dialga doing the same to Machoke with his hand. And when the heroes bounced off, the dragons linked their arms together and lifted their lower bodies up before spinning like a twister. After a couple of seconds, each flew away from the other before Dialga slashed Gardevoir's upper body with his claws and Palkia did the same to Machoke, both barking, "SPACE TIME REND!"

Blood spewed out of the couple only for Machoke to grit his teeth and grunt, "No!" He spread his legs out to stop himself from falling, Blaziken uttering, "Wow, Gallade would be so proud if he saw that."

Of course, Machoke had much more planned, thus he grabbed onto Palkia's wrist and threw her backward into the cage wall. More electricity coursed through her as she gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain. However, this time it was even worse for her, because while the electric sparks had done next to nothing to her before, after all the damage she had succumbed to up to this point, it finally started to hurt.

Gardevoir, however, fell on her back after Dialga struck her. But just as he was about to plant an axe kick into her gut, Machoke raced over to him and wrapped one arm around his midsection, using his free arm to force the blue dragon's outstretched leg as high up as it could go. Dialga's eyes and mouth were wide open when the reptilian lifted him up, leaned backward and planted the back of his head into the canvas.

The crowd went wild while Nori exclaimed, "Oh, wow! Not only does Machoke get yet another outstanding comeback, but he has just pulled off a really advanced suplex! By lifting up Dialga's leg like that, he's managed to damage both his head and his thigh!"

But of course, there was no way Machoke would let it end here. And so, after he released his hold on Dialga, he lifted him up by his hind legs and swung him skull-first into Palkia's gut. The purple dragon grunted in pain while the electricity covering her spread to Dialga and effected him as well.

'No,' the blue dragon thought with horror in his expression, 'Why does this hurt? Electricity shouldn't hurt us! Have they really dealt that much damage to us!?'

Machoke helped Gardevoir up before she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'll admit, I was a little afraid back there. But after what Hoopa put us through, this is nothing, right, honey?"

Machoke nodded and replied, "Of course. Now what say we finish these two off for good?" the dragons finally prying themselves away from the cage wall only for Machoke and Gardevoir to leap toward them from behind. They then wrapped their arms around them, flipped them upside-down, rammed their skulls into the canvas and barked, "DOUBLE PILEDRIVER!"

The crowd cheered wildly while Zeraora stood up and yelled, "Yeah! Way to go, guys! Let 'em have it!" Vaporeon staring at him and uttering, "Wow, you're really getting into this," the cat nodding and saying, "Yeah. As stressful as these fights can get, it's really satisfying seeing our friends win after suffering that much abuse."

Machoke and Gardevoir examined the dragons closely and noticed that both were rather winded after that last hit. While they had bled plenty of times, this was the first time they had been seen in a condition like this. Now there was no doubt this match was over.

Machoke lifted up Dialga and hurled him into the air before Gardevoir did the same with Palkia, the crowd's excitement now at its peak. They knew exactly was coming as even Vaporeon and the others were beyond ecstatic. This was it, the move that had defeated Hoopa, Bisharp and Scrafty.

"I think they waited for just the right moment this time," Blaziken said with her arms folded as Hitmonchan grinned in anticipation from the hospital. And many of their other friends watched this as well. Bisharp and Scrafty, who had returned to their home countries, had big smiles on their faces while Scyther and Reika watched this from their home.

Talonflame grinned and said, "Those guys never stood a chance," Tsuya nodding and resting her head on his shoulder.

But while the majority of Machoke and Gardevoir's friends were fully confident, Lucario narrowed his eyelids and examined Dialga and Palkia. After a few seconds, his eyes widened before he gasped, "WAIT, DON'T DO IT! IT'S A TRICK!"

Unfortunately, it was too late as Machoke and Gardevoir both leapt off of the ropes on separate sides of the ring. The reptilian man rolled up into a ball as the white woman arched her body back into a moon shape, both spinning vertically toward their respective opponents.

Amanda cried, "Wait, guys, stop!" Veronica uttering, "Are you saying Dialga and Palkia are playing possum after all of that?"

It seemed so when Dialga opened his eyes, smirked and thought, 'Too bad for you, I studied your match with Lucario,' thus when Machoke closed in on him, he leaned backward and planted his hands and feet into the reptilian man to stop his flight. But to make things worse, the blue dragon also planted his claws into his flesh.

And before Gardevoir could strike Palkia, she turned her skin dark purple and her claws pink once more. She then swung them downward into the white woman's gut and yelled, "SPACIAL REND!"

The Glamourous Fighting Machines cried out in agonizing pain before Palkia flipped Gardevoir upside-down and planted her claws into her thighs. Dialga, meanwhile, waited for Machoke to retract from his ball-like state and flipped him over as well. He wrapped his arms around the reptilian man and planted the claws on his hands and feet into his upper back and legs.

"You think that Muscle Coffin of yours is something special?" Dialga quipped with a grin while Palkia flew over him after he descended toward the mat, "Not only have Vaporeon and Zeraora essentially come up with their own take on it but so have we, and ours is much better!"

Palkia used her wings to fall faster until Gardevoir's skull was pressed up against Machoke's feet. Once again, a blue aura covered Dialga before the reptilian man's skull was slammed hard into the canvas, the dragons shouting, "SPACE TIME DRIVER!"

All went silent among the crowd, Vaporeon and the others all staring in horror. Machoke and Gardevoir did not even react to this. Instead, their eyes went completely blank and their mouths hung open before Dialga and Palkia released their holds on them and allowed them to collapse.

Zeraora stared and uttered, "They can still fight, right?" Blaziken gulping, "Of course they can. They've dealt with way worse," Jolteon taking a light sip of her coffee while Leafeon and Raboot looked at one-another with concern.

Nori started the ten count as Beedrill and Butterfree watched in stunned silence. As much as they wanted to relay what they had just seen, they could not believe this either. While part of their job required them not to show it, they, too, had expected the couple to defend their championship title.

But sure enough, neither of them was able to move when Nori reached ten seconds and rang the bell, saying in a monotone voice, "Well, folks, you've just witnessed this. The Glamourous Fighting Machines are out like a light. Therefor, the Time Space Squad will advance to the finals. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to head to the bathroom."

Beedrill and Butterfree did not even stop her when she stood up and exited the area. Of course, since none of them knew the dragons were evil, they had no reason to be super upset about this, but it would still take a while for them to fully believe what they had seen.

However, after a few seconds, the wasp cleared his throat and stated, "Well, that was certainly a very exciting pair of matches! Don't forget to join us a week from today for the Ultimate World Team Tournament finals!"

Dialga and Palkia grinned wickedly at their fallen opponents. They could tell this tournament was theirs. After all, while Vaporeon and Zeraora may have been good fighters, they did not seem nearly as strong as Gardevoir and Machoke. As such, Dialga figured that at most, the match would play out similarly to their match with Shaymin and Melmetal.

Blaziken got up from her seat and raced toward the ring, kneeling down before her friends and asking, "Are you guys alright? Tell me you can still move," Lucario, Amanda and Veronica soon joining her.

Zeraora gritted his teeth and clenched his fists before he looked over at Vaporeon and saw her breathing heavily with her eyes and mouth as wide as possible. As much as the blue fox hated to admit it, she thought the same thing Dialga had thought. If anything, it felt like a miracle that she had made it this far the more she thought about it.

The cat patted her on the shoulder before she faked a smile, Leafeon looking at the blue fox with concern. Could she and Jolteon even help them prepare for this next match?

Machoke and Gardevoir were carried out of the area as Blaziken joined them. Raboot then got up and sighed, "If it's alright with you guys, I'm gonna go check up on Scorbunny in the hospital."

Zeraora nodded and replied, "Count us in. We wanna make sure she's alright," Vaporeon simply standing up and walking with them. Now she had more of a blank look on her face. She had entered the tournament hoping she would get this chance, but after seeing just how deadly these dragons were, more and more she wished someone else could have been up against them.


	34. Chapter 34

Shortly after the semi-finals had ended, Vaporeon, Zeraora and Raboot all headed to the hospital to check up on their friends. Hitmonchan had returned to her hotel room not too long ago as she knew Gallade would not wish for her to spend the whole time worrying about him, but Blaziken refused to leave Machoke and Gardevoir's side for the time being.

Of course, while the trio followed a nurse down the hallway, they looked at the rooms where their other friends were resting. At the very least, the blue fox would definitely check up on Morgrem and Rolycoly before she left. After all, they were awake, so it would be wrong not to visit them.

Once they reached Scorbunny's room, Raboot immediately raced over to her side and asked, "So, how is she, nurse? She'll be okay, right? I mean, she's a member of my family. Of course she'll be okay," before clearing his throat, holding his hands against his hips and stating, "She's tough, like me."

The nurse bowed her head and said, "Don't worry, she'll be alright. In fact, the doctors say she'll wake up before the day ends. But that electric shock was actually worse than it looked. As such, she won't be able to move her legs for at least a week. We'll give her a wheelchair so she can still hang out with you, but as for the finals..."

"It's fine," Vaporeon replied with a monotone voice, "She's done all she can. I'll be fine." The nurse bowed again and exited the room before Zeraora rested a hand on Vaporeon's shoulder with a look of concern.

The blue fox managed to form a real smile this time before she leaned toward Scorbunny and kissed her forehead, whispering, "Get well soon," before Raboot said, "You two can go check up on the others if you'd like. I'd like to spend more time with my distant cousin, if you don't mind."

Vaporeon nodded and turned around only for the male rabbit to add, "Wait, Vaporeon, before you go, I have a couple of things I'd like to say."

The blue fox turned and blinked before he bowed and said, "First off, thank you for giving my cousin the happiness she deserves. I'm a little shocked by what side she plays for, but I'm glad she has someone like you to spend her life with."

Vaporeon smiled sweetly and replied, "Well, I'm glad you approve. It was very nice meeting you, too," Raboot then adding, "Oh yeah, there was something else I wanted to say."

He then rested his hands on Vaporeon's shoulders, looked deep into her eyes and sighed, "I know what's going through your head right now. As hard as it may be to believe, I've had moments like this. I've seen my friends fall to opponents so tough, I didn't think I could possibly beat them. But I persevered and most of all, I managed to defeat them. I imagine you've probably never faced anyone as powerful as those two. I certainly haven't, but I know you and Zeraora can win."

Vaporeon was a tad shocked. She had not expected someone this full of himself to give her such sound advice. But ultimately, it seemed to work when a smile formed on her face and she nodded her head. She then gave him a hug and sniffed, "Thank you, Great G-" only to stop herself and utter, "Raboot, yeah. Thank you, Raboot."

She then released him, smiled sweetly at Scorbunny and exited the room along with Zeraora as Raboot stood there with a blank look on his face. He then blinked his eyes tightly and uttered, "Was she about to call me 'Great Grandpa'?" holding his right ear in front of his face and noticing how grey his fur was.

Vaporeon and Zeraora made a quick visit to Morgrem and Rolycoly's room. Luckily for them, both were able to get up just in time for them to enter, the goblin grinning and squealing, "Hey, guys!" She then ran over to Vaporeon, gave her a big hug and added, "You and Scorbunny were amazing!"

Rolycoly nodded and replied, "Yeah, you really let Toxtricity and Sutorinda have it," before sighing, "Still, it really sucks that Machoke and Gardevoir lost. You can beat those two dragons, right?"

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Yeah, I'm sure I can," before sighing, "By the way, you know Scorbunny won't be able to fight alongside me again, right?"

Morgrem blinked and replied, "Actually, no. We saw footage showing her pass out, but we didn't think it was that bad," Rolycoly shrugging and saying, "At least you still got Zeraora, right?"

The cat smiled while Vaporeon nodded and squealed, "Yep! As long as I got him by my side, there's no way I can lose!" wrapping her arm around his neck and giving him a noogie. His eyes widened before he chuckled, "Hey, come on, stop!"

The blue fox then sighed, "I just hope the others will be awake by then. I'm surprised Shaymin and Melmetal are still unconscious. It's been more than a week now."

"Well, I imagine they would probably regain consciousness before your match," Rolycoly replied, "And I bet the others will, too. After all, you got a whole week before your match begins, right? They have to wake up by then."

Vaporeon nodded and said, "I guess you're right. Not even Dialga and Palkia can keep them out for that long, and besides, Drizzile lost to Toxtricity and Sutorinda. They're nowhere near as powerful."

She then tapped her chin and uttered, "You know, they might actually be awake by now. They've been out for about the same amount of time you guys were," thus all four headed out of the room to check up on them.

When they entered, they were surprised to see Drizzile and Gallade still asleep. Blaziken, who was by their side, noticed them and sighed, "Yeah, sorry. They're still out like a light."

But as if by some miracle, Drizzile managed to open his eyes before he yawned and sat upright, smacking his lips. He then turned to see Vaporeon and the others there, his eyes wide open as he gasped, "Oh my god! Where are we!?"

He then looked around and sighed, "Dammit, so we really did lose," Morgrem nodding and replying, "Yeah, but on the bright side, Vaporeon won her match," Blaziken replying, "That's right. She and Scorbunny gave them a run for their money."

Vaporeon nodded before the chameleon smiled and said, "Well, that's good to know," Blaziken turning to face Gallade and groaning, "Still, I get the funny feeling he probably won't live this down. Unless it's against a friend, he doesn't take losses well."

Drizzile chuckled, "You know, that actually doesn't surprise me, though I certainly don't blame him. If my track record was like his, I'd probably be more upset about our loss."

He then slid out from under the covers and stood perfectly against the floor. At that moment, a nurse entered and gasped when she saw this. Thus she raced over and examined Drizzile closely to make sure he really was okay to move, and after a few seconds, she smiled and said, "Good. You've made a full recovery."

Just before the nurse could take her leave, though, Gallade bolted upright and snapped, "Ah-hah! You thought you had us beat, but-" looking around at his surroundings and groaning, "Of course I'd wind up here of all places."

He then noticed the others standing there, Drizzile and Blaziken smiling before the green man asked, "What day is it?" Vaporeon took out her phone and showed him the date before he groaned, "Oh, come on! So we really did lose!?"

Just as Drizzile was about to try and calm him down, he sighed, "Oh well. At least I actually made it to the quarter-finals," the chameleon along with Blaziken breathing a sigh of relief before Gallade turned to him and added, "And it's all thanks to you. Seriously, I've never done this well in any competition."

Vaporeon and the others smiled sweetly before he blinked and said, "Considering the date and time, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the semis are over, right? So, who are the finalists?" Vaporeon grinning and squealing, "Well, the first team fighting will be me and my awesome partner here," resting a hand on Zeraora's shoulder.

The cat blushed lightly and nodded before Gallade said, "So that means you must have beaten Toxtricity and Sutorinda. That makes me glad," Drizzile nodding and enquiring, "Speaking of which, did Rillaboom and Aipom win their match?"

The area went silent as the fox and cat bit their lower lips and Blaziken rubbed her arm nervously. After all, only the chicken, Morgrem and Rolycoly knew how things had gone. As such, they explained everything while Drizzile stared wide-eyed and shook his head. When Gallade heard that even Machoke and Gardevoir had lost to Dialga and Palkia, he simply could not believe it. At the very least, the reptilian had a knack for defeating even the most major of threats.

Even so, the green man took a deep breath and said, "Well, I guess it could have been worse. He could have lost to a couple of villains. I may not want to see Dialga and Palkia win the tournament, but I'd at least accept it," Blaziken's beak wide open while Zeraora pursed his lips. All the while, the heroes from Edmonton could not help but wonder why those two reacted like that. Had they figured out the dragons' secret?

Gallade did not seem to notice this, thus he chuckled, "Anyway, Drizzile, seriously, thank you so much for being my partner. It was great working alongside you," holding out his hand. The chameleon beamed bright and shook it before the green man added, "I bet you probably want to spend time with your friends, don't you? I'd join you, but I think I owe Hitmonchan a date after being out for this long."

Blaziken chuckled before Drizzile replied, "It's been an honour fighting with you," before he and the others exited the room, Gallade sighing, "What a great guy."

He then found a nearby phone and used it to call up Hitmonchan to tell her that he was awake. Needless to say, she was beyond thrilled to hear that and agreed to go on a date with him right away. After all, she really had no plans for the rest of the day.

Later that evening, Vaporeon was about to head with Zeraora to his house before the cat enquired, "Would you guys like to stay over as well? I mean, my place is pretty small, but I wouldn't mind a little extra company."

"No thanks," Morgrem replied with a grin, "It's a nice offer and all, but we already have our own hotel room booked and we'd hate to waste it."

Rolycoly nodded and added, "Besides, you and Vaporeon will need to work hard to prepare yourselves. Just from that one match we saw, we can tell Dialga and Palkia will be a major challenge."

Vaporeon nodded and replied, "Well, as long as you're certain," Drizzile saying, "Well, I got nowhere to go. I'd rather let Gallade spend time with Hitmonchan. Besides, I'm more than happy to help you train."

Zeraora smiled and unlocked the door before he said, "Well, you're more than welcome," letting the chameleon into his house. Vaporeon was especially happy to be back. Sure, it had only been three days, but she had gotten used to staying here since she arrived in this time.

And so, the fox immediately got to work on dinner as Drizzile and Zeraora chatted at the table. The chameleon wanted to enquire about why Vaporeon's partner in the semi-finals was Scorbunny, but he figured it might be better not to look too deep into it. As such, the two focused more on different sorts of topics, Zeraora fascinated to hear that the chameleon had a fiance back home.

"While Gallade was a huge inspiration for me, I never would have beaten Runerigus had she not been there to cheer me on," Drizzile explained before Zeraora uttered, "Wow, that's so sweet. It makes me want to get a girlfriend."

"Well, I'm sure it'll happen someday," Drizzile replied before Vaporeon brought in three plates of curry and rice and set it down. The chameleon picked up a spoonful and popped it into his mouth before a big smile formed on his face.

"I've missed your cooking," he sighed, "It feels like it's been forever," Vaporeon chuckled, "Well, you should have dropped by much sooner," Zeraora loving the taste as well. He never would have imagined having food this good in his house before.

Once dinner was over, the trio got ready for bed, Drizzile claiming the couch. But just as Vaporeon was ready to crawl under the covers of Zeraora's futon, the cat said, "Hey, um, Vaporeon, before we go to sleep, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

The fox nodded and asked, "What is it?" Zeraora taking a deep breath and enquiring, "Well, remember when you told me why you took me as your teammate and I left the area?"

"Yeah?" Vaporeon uttered before the cat explained, "Well, I overheard you and Scorbunny talking and, well, both of you mentioned something about Dialga and Palkia being evil. Is that true?"

The fox stared in stunned silence. She could not believe he had actually been nearby when Scorbunny said that. This was exactly the conversation she and the others had tried to avoid. Sure, it would have been great to expose the dragons for the villains they were, but they could not do this without revealing where, or rather when they came from.

With that in mind, Vaporeon took a deep breath and said, "Okay, you might wanna get comfortable, because there's a lot you need to know."

Zeraora took a seat before she replied, "You heard that right. Dialga and Palkia are villains. Granted, most of this is stuff Shaymin told us, but basically, she fought them on Hero Planet and lost to them."

"Wait, she fought them on Hero Planet?" Zeraora uttered, "But then how did none of the staff members see that?" Vaporeon chuckling, "This is where things get complicated."

The fox proceeded to explain how the sources of the dragons' power had apparently been taken from them prior to Shaymin's encounter with them, specifically Palkia's wings and Dialga's voice. She mentioned how both had gone to Hero Planet to retrieve them so that Dialga could use his voice to create a rift in the space time continuum. Zeraora stared in shock when Vaporeon went on to explain how this allowed them to go back in time to this era, and of course, she had to reveal that she and her friends had followed them in a flying time machine.

"Wait, back up!" Zeraora retorted with a dumbstruck look in his eyes, "If all of you had to go back in time to stop these two, that means that you and your friends are from the future. Are you really from the future!?"

Vaporeon took a deep breath and replied, "Yeah. In fact, Leafeon is actually my great grandma," the cat truly stunned by all of this. While this was hard to believe, in a way, it all made sense. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it did seem a tad contrived that both Scorbunny and Vaporeon just happened to have distant cousins staying in Tokyo and that only they had known about them.

"The only problem is that, well, we can't really expose Dialga and Palkia as villains," Vaporeon sighed, "In order to prove it, we'd have to reveal that we're from the future. We'd have to let the entire world know, and, well, if they knew that we'll one day be born later, it could mess with our time. Hell, we might even cease to exist."

Zeraora nodded and replied, "Yeah, that makes sense," before he nodded, grinned and replied, "As long as we defeat those two, it won't even matter, right? We'll save the world and keep your secret safe."

The fox's eyes sparkled before she gave the cat a hug, saying, "You really are the best partner I could have asked for," Zeraora patting her on the back and replying, "It's a shame you'll have to leave when this is all over, but I'm glad I met you."

Vaporeon nodded and said, "Same here," before crawling under the futon cover, "Dialga and Palkia set up this tournament so they could defeat the world's best heroes live. I don't entirely know what they intend to do after that, but whatever it is, they must be stopped."

Zeraora grinned and stated, "Yep, and we'll stop them together," before he chuckled, "Imagine me defeating my first villain. As if winning three official matches wasn't amazing enough. I still can't believe I have this chance."

Suddenly, his cell phone started to ring, thus he looked at the caller ID, blinked and said, "Feel free to go to sleep any time. I need to take this," exiting the room before Vaporeon shrugged and slowly closed her eyes with a yawn.

When Zeraora answered, he smiled and said, "Hey, Mom. You don't usually call. What's up?" a female voice replying, "I just wanted to call you to tell you how proud I am of you. I wish you'd called and told me about this."

The cat blinked and enquired, "Wait, before you go further, is this about what I think it is?" before his mother squealed, "If you were thinking it's about what you've been up to for the last week and a half, then yeah! One of my coworkers told me about it and showed me a bit of footage! I was wondering when you'd discover you could create electricity!"

Zeraora's eyes widened as he uttered, "Oh my god, you're right. I really should have called you about that," before he asked, "Wait, you're okay with this?"

"Well, not at first," the female replied, "In fact, there was always a part of me that felt glad you never thought to become a hero. But, well, after what I saw from your fight with that bird and rabbit, I can see this is something you're good at. I don't think I've seen you so happy since you were nine."

Zeraora blinked and looked back to how he felt after the match ended. While Vaporeon had been guilty about the lengths she went to, he was thrilled to have won the match. And as his mother carried on to praise his skills, he had the biggest smile on his face, wondering how she would react when she heard that he helped defeat two dangerous villains in the finals.

And so, the following day, Vaporeon and Zeraora trained extra hard for their match. While the fox had suggested that they take some downtime every now and then, this time, the cat was adamant about their training. After all, this was not just another match. They absolutely had to win this one at all cost.

However, after they had witnessed the Muscle Coffin's defeat, they also realized they could not rely primarily on their new team move. For all they knew, Dialga and Palkia might have found a way around it. Thus they put a lot of emphasis on many of their other moves. After all, they knew the dragons would not fall for the same tactic Rillaboom and Aipom had used and that they did not have a special power that increased their physical strength exponentially. At the very least, they figured they might stand a much bigger chance if they could make their best moves more effective.

All the while, Dialga and Palkia still continued to train, only they did not put as much effort into it as they normally would. Somewhere in the middle of it all, the purple dragon sighed, "You know, Dialga, I don't really see the point in training right now."

"Indeed," Dialga replied with a smirk, "This almost seems unfair. I'll admit, that Vaporeon has proven herself a good fighter, but we just recently defeated the world champion. I almost feel like not training just to give them a fighting chance."

But before he could say more, Palkia seemed to read his mind when she added, "But if we did that, we'd be taking too much of a risk, right?" Dialga nodding and saying, "You know, Palkia, you seem to have gotten a lot smarter as of late. Not only did you come up with that brilliant electric cage idea, but you've been seeing eye to eye with me an awful lot."

"Yeah, well, you've been a good influence, I guess," Palkia replied with a light smile, "But I seriously can't believe it. We are so close to success. After this match, the whole world will fear us. God, I just wish we could have the final match tomorrow instead of next week."

Dialga nodded and replied, "Still, we have to follow some traditions. It's always been like that. The final match is the most important one, so fighters are given a week to prepare."

A fiendish grin then formed on his face before he added, "Although I actually kinda hope Shaymin will be able to attend the match. I want to see the look on her face when she sees us come out on top. If we couldn't kill her without being disqualified, the least we can do is have her grovel at our feet."

Palkia tapped her chin and enquired, "Hey, you know, I was thinking, in order to really make a statement, should we go all-out and kill Vaporeon? I feel like at least one murder would show the world just how serious we are about this," Dialga nodding and saying, "Once again, we're on the same page. After all, we've already advanced to the finals. We don't need to adhere to the rules anymore."

The following day, Melmetal finally awoke. He sat up in his bed and took a deep breath, thinking, 'My god, that wasn't a dream. We really did lose,' before noticing Shaymin on the bed next to him. He looked with concern until he noticed a smile form on her face before she chuckled, "Oh no, I couldn't possibly accept anymore. That chicken was filling enough."

The cyborg shifted is eye around to imply rolling a pupil before he stretched his arm toward her and gave her shoulder a light nudge. When this failed to get a reaction, he took a deep breath and pushed her harder. Eventually, he pushed so hard that it caused her to roll off her bed, thus he clasped his hand over the bottom of his head.

"Hey, what the hell was that for!?" Shaymin snapped before she sprang to her feet, Melmetal gasping, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

The hedgehog took a deep breath and remarked, "No, no, it's fine. I'm just really pissed off right now," the cyborg uttering, "I said I was sorry," only for Shaymin to sigh, "I don't mean that. I'm just pissed because we were supposed to stop Dialga and Palkia and we failed miserably! Now all I can do is hope to God that Rillaboom and Aipom actually beat them!"

At that moment, a nurse walked by and uttered, "Um, excuse me, but could I ask you to-" her eyes wide open as she gasped, "Oh my! You're up!" She then approached them and examined them closely before she smiled and said, "Well, look at that. You're both in perfect condition."

Shaymin nodded and replied, "Naturally," before she asked, "Say, could you tell us what day it is?" the nurse stating, "Oh, it's August eleventh."

Melmetal and Shaymin stared in stunned silence before the hedgehog cried, "Dammit! I've been unconscious for a week!?" before sighing, "At least tell me Dialga and Palkia were defeated."

"Oh no," the nurse replied, "In fact, they're going up against Vaporeon and Zeraora in the finals." Melmetal and Shaymin both stared in horror. And when the nurse mentioned that Machoke and Gardevoir had lost to them, their fear only heightened.

"How many days are left until the finals, anyway?" Melmetal enquired before the nurse said, "It's six days from now, so you have plenty of time to enjoy your stay in Tokyo until then."

Shaymin frowned and turned to Melmetal, grunting, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" The cyborg stared down at her with a serious look and replied, "Hell yeah I am."

And so, the duo followed the nurse out of the room to the exit. There was no way they would sit back and do nothing. They could not risk fighting Dialga and Palkia, of course. Even if they won, it could be seen as an unprovoked attack, thus they could easily be branded as criminals. There was another way they could help, and this was soon made clear when Shaymin arrived at Zeraora's house with a sheet of paper in front of her face.

"Yep, this is where those nice high school kids told us to go," the hedgehog said with a smile, "With our help, they'll be unstoppable."


	35. Chapter 35

After having finally recovered from a week of rest, Shaymin and Melmetal stood before the entrance to Zeraora's house. It was late enough, so he and Vaporeon should have been at home. But while they stood there, the cyborg blinked and asked, "I was just thinking, how about we go back in time to challenge Dialga and Palkia again? Or at least go back to our time and maybe alter the footage of them stealing their parts back?"

Shaymin sighed, "I didn't say this before because I didn't want to put too much pressure on everyone, but that machine is only good for one more trip. After we return to our time, that's it."

She then pulled out a microchip and added, "I actually have the footage of them raiding Hero Planet right here, so if push comes to shove, I'll expose them with this. But since it means I'll have to reveal our secret, it's a last-minute resort. I'm sure we won't need it, though."

Melmetal nodded before the hedgehog rang the doorbell. After a few seconds, Zeraora answered the door and said, "Hello, who is it?" his eyes wide open at the sight of the two who stood before him. And of course, he just had to call Vaporeon to the door.

Soon enough, everyone was seated in the living room. Drizzile smiled and said, "It's good to see you two up and about," Melmetal replying, "Yeah, to think we missed so much. Though I'm a little surprised to see you here."

The chameleon shrugged and stated, "Well, Gallade and Hitmonchan finally have some time to spend together. I didn't wanna get in the way of that. Besides, right now, getting these two ready for the biggest match of their lives is top priority."

"Couldn't agree more!" Shaymin squealed with a grin, "I imagine you two have gotten a lot of training done today, but we're gonna help you, and we won't take no for an answer!" Zeraora blinking before he shrugged his shoulders and replied, "You have no objections from us, Miss Future Chairwoman."

Shaymin and Melmetal both stared in shock before Drizzile chuckled, "Yeah, Vaporeon kinda spilled the beans last night," the blue fox grinning nervously with a light sweat drop on the side of her head.

"It's fine," Zeraora uttered with a nervous smile, "I already promised I wouldn't tell anyone, so your time line's still safe, at least for now," Melmetal breathing a sigh of relief while Shaymin bit her lower lip, now wondering if she should just show Beedrill the security footage or not.

Once the conversation was over, both headed off to find themselves a hotel suite to stay in. Zeraora offered to let them stay there for the night, but they felt that with Drizzile there as well, they would simply take up too much space. But they promised to meet the trio at the gym that Vaporeon and Zeraora had gone to during this entire event.

And sure enough, they did just that the following day. All five heroes trained long and hard while Zeraora continued to amaze them all with his electric abilities. It was hard to believe that up until his sparring match with Leafeon and Jolteon, he was only able to use them purely by accident.

When they took breaks, Vaporeon explained to Shaymin and Melmetal what they had discovered about Dialga and Palkia. Needless to say, when Shaymin heard of how Rillaboom and Aipom got the upper hand, she groaned, "Of course that would weaken them. And all we did was beat away at them in the hopes that they'd stop fighting back against us!"

Melmetal chuckled nervously as he figured it would be best not to comment on this. As such, he focused his attention on something else and said, "I have to admit, this will definitely be tough. Like you said, I seriously doubt they'd allow themselves to fall victim to such a tactic again. And if my punches couldn't get them to bleed or even flinch, I'm not sure what you guys could do to weaken them early on."

"It's why we're working our hardest to be as strong as possible," Zeraora replied, "We also figure maybe if we can land a really powerful team move early on, it might be enough to make them vulnerable," Vaporeon nodding.

"In theory, that makes sense," Melmetal replied, "Hell, that's probably what I'd try," Shaymin sighing, "But I get the feeling it won't be that easy. Unleashing many powerful attacks is a good idea, but I think you need to at least try something similar to what Rillaboom and Aipom did, especially since you guys don't have an awesome family power to double your strength."

Vaporeon blinked and asked, "Well, if they're not gonna fall for the same tactic, what do you suggest?" only for Drizzile to nod and reply, "I know what they mean, and it's simple, too. In fact, you may have noticed Machoke and Gardevoir actually pulled this off as did Rillaboom and Aipom. What Shaymin's suggesting is that you should start with moves that involve you sending the dragons into each other. Like, instead of smacking them with your tail, grab onto one and hurl him or her into the other."

"You're right, that is simple," the fox said with a nod, "Even so, that almost sounds too easy. I wouldn't be surprised if they expected us to do that," Zeraora groaning, "Damn, and that really does sound like the better option, too."

"Yeah, it really does," Melmetal replied, "You'll just have to make sure they can't retaliate," before gasping, "Maybe you should make them think you're gonna go for direct attacks but then switch tactics at the last second! They'll never see it coming!"

Zeraora and Vaporeon turned to one-another and nodded with a big smiles. This sounded like the perfect plan. At the very least, they would do that until the dragons were weak enough to take in damage from any move they could dish out.

But just to make sure this would work, Melmetal and Shaymin volunteered to spar with them so they could make sure this method was effective enough. After all, they could not just go in blind with a tactic like this.

During this time, Morgrem and Rolycoly were looking around Tokyo, the goblin smiling and saying, "You know, this place is pretty nice, even in the past. We should totally visit when we get back and see how much it's changed."

The golem nodded and replied, "Agreed," before he took a deep breath and whimpered, "Oh god, I miss Geneva so much!"

Morgrem patted him on the back and sighed, "Don't worry. I know Vaporeon and Zeraora will win. Then everything will be okay and you can return home."

Suddenly, their eyes widened when a familiar voice came from behind them and squealed, "Hey, guys!" both turning to see a certain rabbit up and about. Or at the very least, she was awake.

As the doctors had stated, Scorbunny had enough strength to recover quickly, but she would have to spend her time in a wheelchair. Currently, she had Raboot pushing her despite the fact that she had insisted she could move on her own. And while he believed her, he felt this strange desire to take care of her, but why?

Whatever the case, Morgrem ran over to her and leaned forward for a light hug, exclaiming, "It's so nice to see you again!" Rolycoly chuckling, "She didn't visit us that long ago."

"Still," Raboot sighed, "I'm sure you've heard that she won't be able to move her feet for at least the rest of the week. That means she won't get to compete in the finals. I don't even know why that gets to me so much! I'm feeling things I've never felt before!"

Tears welled up in his eyes before Scorbunny used her ears to wipe them off and sighed, "Don't get all soap opera on me. I'm fine. As long as I can watch Vaporeon kick the shit out of those assholes, I'm happy."

At that moment, Rolycoly suggested, "Hey, how about we go and check up on Vaporeon, eh? Give her a little support. Even if we don't help her train, we can still cheer from the sidelines, eh? It's been how long since we were able to do that?"

Scorbunny nodded and replied, "That's a great idea. And best of all, I know exactly where they are." She then told them which gym they went to almost every day, Raboot knowing exactly where to go. As such, he pushed Scorbunny along and had the others follow him.

During this time, Rillaboom and Aipom continued to lie in their bed until something stirred within the gorilla. Her body started to twitch when suddenly, her eyes opened and she bolted upright. She panted and placed her hand against her forehead before she gasped, "My god, what a terrible nightmare! I dreamt the whole world had been enslaved by Dialga and Palkia! And Vaporeon was a skeleton!"

She then looked around and grumbled, "How long was I out for?" before she looked at Aipom and took a deep breath. As much of an honour as it had been fighting alongside the monkey, she could not help but feel as if she had let her down.

Even so, a doctor happened to walk by when he heard her scratch her forehead. Thus he turned and entered the room with a smile, saying, "Well, look at that. You're wide awake as well."

"What do you mean 'as well'?" Rillaboom uttered before the man explained, "Well, we've had quite a few recoveries lately. Not only did that lizard friend of yours recover last night, but that bunny also made a full recovery as did that, um, I wanna say field mouse but I feel like that's wrong."

The gorilla nodded with a smile and replied, "Well, that's a relief. Drizzile got up nice and quickly," before uttering, "Then again, he didn't fight Dialga. Now that I think about it, it's a miracle I'm awake right now."

"I'll say," the doctor replied, "You're up two days earlier than predicted. You are really strong," Rillaboom grinning and flexing her muscles before uttering, "Hold on, did you say Scorbunny was in the hospital?"

"Oh, right, you were unconscious, so you didn't see it," the doctor replied, "See, she was your mermaid fox friend's partner in the semi-finals and suffered a nasty electric shock. She's fine, but she's also paralysed from the waist down, so she can't move her legs."

"Oh, so she's walking around with crutches?" Rillaboom uttered only for the doctor to reply, "A wheelchair, but yeah, she left a few hours ago. Said something about checking up on her friends."

Rillaboom smiled in response and enquired, "So, um, how long is Aipom gonna be out?" the doctor biting his lower lip and sighing, "Well, her body's nowhere near as strong as yours, so she probably won't wake up for at least another four days."

The gorilla nodded and replied, "Well, keep taking good care of her, alright?" before she rose up and stretched, "I need to go check up on our friends as well. I've been asleep for far too long."

She then rolled her shoulder and shifted her neck back and forth before the doctor had a nurse lead her to the exit. Needless to say, she could not wait to reunite with her friends. But after she left, her eyes went wide as she uttered, "Wait, if Scorbunny was injured, does that mean she and Vaporeon lost? Did Machoke and Gardevoir beat Lucario and Clauncher? If they did, then Dialga and Palkia must have been defeated."

However, her tune soon changed when she walked by an electronics store and noticed the various TVs in the window showing a news report about the finals. At first, she was beyond worried when she noticed the subtitles mention Dialga and Palkia competing in the round. The last thing the gorilla wanted was for Toxtricity and Sutorinda to be their opponents.

But when the reporter mentioned that the dragons' opponents would be Vaporeon and Zeraora, she breathed a sigh of relief. And sure enough, she had a pretty clear of idea of where they would be. Thus she headed off with a big grin on her face.

During this time, Vaporeon and Zeraora were in the midst of their sparring match with Melmetal and Shaymin. Despite their best efforts, the cyborg and hedgehog had proven to be surprisingly difficult to take advantage of. Each time either of them attempted to send the other into his or her partner, said opponent would counter with his or her own move.

Vaporeon wrapped her tail around Melmetal's head only for the cyborg to ram his fist into her back, causing her to let go. And when Zeraora grabbed onto the back of Shaymin's head, she formed her thorns and pierced his hand.

However, he refused to let this get to him, but he took a deep breath, lifted her up and tossed her into Melmetal's face, his eyes wide with shock as he backed up. Shaymin rubbed the back of her head after she landed on the mat and grinned, saying, "Not bad. Now let's see if you can both pull that off."

Drizzile cheered for them while Vaporeon rose to her feet and thought, 'Right, I gotta take a page out of Rillaboom's book and try not to let the pain get to me. If I can treat hard hits like a minor inconvenience, I can pull off anything.'

With that in mind, she waited for Shaymin to take on her sky form and fly at her with her ears out. The fox waited for her to get close and latched her hands onto said ears. Sure, she took a light blow to her neck due to the hedgehog's speed, but she ignored it, lifted her up and tossed her into Melmetal.

Shaymin grinned and said, "Not bad. You pulled off a Rillaboom there," Vaporeon thinking, 'Did she read my mind?' before the hedgehog sighed, "Still, while that may be effective against us, I'm not so sure if that would be such a good idea against Dialga and Palkia."

Zeraora blinked before Drizzile sighed, "From what I've seen from them, she might have a point. Shaymin, do those two really hit as hard as it looks like they do?" Melmetal replying, "Oh, you bet. I've never faced anyone with such amazing physical strength."

"Well, to be fair, they're nowhere near as hard-hitting as Eternatus and his friends, but they are really tough," the hedgehog stated, "As such, it would be best not to let them hit you at all. So we still need to practice quite a bit."

Zeraora let out a sigh and groaned, "And here I thought we were onto something," Vaporeon replying, "Well, I figured it wouldn't be that easy."

At that moment, a familiar voice entered the area and squealed, "I knew you guys would be here!" Vaporeon's eyes wide with shock as she slowly turned to see Scorbunny by the entrance along with Morgrem, Rolycoly and Raboot.

The fox had an open-mouth smile when she leapt out of the ring and raced toward the rabbit. She then wrapped her arms around her and squeaked, "It's true! You really did wake up quickly!" showering her in kisses while Morgrem blinked and uttered, "Did we miss something?"

The fox then beamed bright at the other two and exclaimed, "It's so nice to see you finally out of the hospital!" before she turned to Raboot and added, "And it's good to see you too, Raboot."

"Naturally," the male rabbit replied with a proud look on his face, "So, how's your training coming along? You ready to rip those dragons limb from limb?"

'Rip them limb from limb,' Shaymin thought while she tapped her chin, Vaporeon sighing, "Not quite. We know how we'll weaken them, but we still haven't quite figured out a surefire method to pull it off. I mean, we know what to do, but it's much easier said than done."

"You think we could help out?" Rolycoly enquired only for Vaporeon to reply, "That would be nice, but we got Shaymin and Melmetal helping us out, and they've fought the dragons, so it makes sense."

Morgrem and Rolycoly turned to face her before saying in unison, "Hi, Miss Chair- I mean, Shaymin!" the hedgehog tensing up when she spotted Raboot. They had just about revealed her secret to him, the male rabbit now wondering if almost saying the wrong name was a common thing for this group.

The others soon discussed their plan with the others. Raboot simply folded his arms and grunted, "You should just rush them and keep beating away at them until they bleed. That's what I would do," before Melmetal sighed, "Yeah, that strategy is why we lost. Keep up, man."

"Still, there is another thing you could try if that tactic fails," Shaymin stated as the others turned to face her, "Although I imagine this would be even more difficult to pull off. See, Dialga and Palkia weren't this powerful before they fought me the first time around. In fact, each one has a specific power source to grant them a large burst in strength that makes them as threatening as they are."

Scorbunny blinked and said, "Oh, yeah, right, you mean Palkia's wings and Dialga's voice, right?" Raboot and Zeraora uttering, "You mean they didn't have those before?"

Shaymin nodded at them and explained, "Yes, as it so happens, Dialga's power comes from a sphere inside of his body called The Sphere of Time. It also contains his voice, meaning he needs it to communicate, but most of all, it gives him the ability to activate that blue aura he used against us."

Zeraora blinked and uttered, "Oh, wow," the hedgehog adding, "Meanwhile, Palkia's wings are actually detachable. It takes a lot to pull it off, but it is possible. Not only do they grant her the power to fly, but they also increase her strength by a lot and are called The Wings of Space. As it so happens, both of these had been taken from them a few years ago."

Raboot blinked and uttered, "So they got them back, then?" Shaymin nodding and replying, "Yep. Or rather, they stole those parts back. It's where their power comes from."

"Wait, stole?" Raboot asked, "And what's this about these parts being taken from them in the first place? What, are they criminals or something?" Scorbunny nodding and replying, "Yep. In fact, defeating them has kinda been our top priority throughout this whole tournament, mostly because we're the only ones who know their secret. The only problem is we have no proof of the crimes they commited, so we can't just have them disqualified."

"And even if we did, I've been thinking and I realize that probably wouldn't work in our favour anyway," Shaymin sighed, "Think about it. Even if they were disqualified, they'll just be allowed to leave so they can return another day and exact their revenge. The best thing we can do is defeat them. But I also just realized that taking the wings and voice from them might also be the best thing we could do, because without those powers in their possession, they'll never be able to pull this BS again."

Melmetal's eye widened when he heard that. Even he had completely forgotten that was how that worked. If anything, the security footage Shaymin had on her had pretty much been rendered useless now. Both felt ashamed of the fact that they had only just thought of all of this.

Vaporeon nodded and grunted, "Alright, we'll be sure to do that as well. We might have to defeat them first, but if that's what it takes, then so be it!"

Zeraora nodded with a big grin while Raboot uttered, "Oh my god, there have been two criminals in this tournament and only you guys knew about it!? As if my brain hasn't already been overloaded with emotions as of late!"

At that moment, Rillaboom opened the door to the gym with a grin on her face. She then waved to the others who all exclaimed, "RILLABOOM!" and ran over to her to hold her in a tight embrace, save for Scorbunny who waved from her chair.

Soon enough, the gorilla was brought up to speed, thus she nodded and said, "Yeah, that makes the most sense. I actually feel kinda bad revealing that strategy so soon. If Aipom and I hadn't used it so much, they never would have caught onto it."

She then frowned and grunted, "Though to think all this time, things could have been so much easier if we'd aimed for their power sources. If only we'd thought of that sooner."

"Again, it's not as easy as just yanking them away," Shaymin replied, "From what I can gather, Buzzwole absorbed Dialga's voice from him while Nihilego had to use an awful lot of force to knock Palkia's wings off."

Raboot blinked and thought, 'Buzzwole? Nihilego? How is it I've never heard of any of these people?' Zeraora figuring they must have been heroes from the future as well.

Vaporeon nodded and said, "I'm sure we can do it. But until then, we gotta focus on our main strategy."

She then smiled at Rillaboom and added, "Maybe you could help us, eh? You've fought them too," the gorilla nodding and replying, "Hell yeah. I'll do whatever I can to help you beat the shit out of them."

And so, after a bit more talking, Vaporeon and Zeraora resumed training. But while turning their opponents against each other without getting hit sounded easy in theory, they had a lot more trouble with it than they first expected. Despite their best efforts, each time they would send a sparring partner into his or her partner, they would always take in a strike first.

Rillaboom raced toward Vaporeon who prepared to dodge, but just as she was about to do so, she hesitated and took the gorilla's arm to her neck. As if that was not enough, she was unable to fight back after having taken in so many hits prior to this, thus she groaned in pain and fell on her back.

The others gasped before Morgrem leapt into the ring and asked, "Hey, you okay?" the fox grumbling, "Not really," as even Zeraora felt a tad ashamed of himself.

Rillaboom let out a sigh and said, "Well, this is exactly what Shaymin warned you about. You guys took in a lot of hits from us, but trust me, you don't want Dialga or Palkia to hit either of you. You'll get results like these much sooner."

Vaporeon bit her lip and groaned, "I can't help thinking this really should be easier," Scorbunny tapping her chin and suggesting, "Maybe you guys are just overthinking it. Instead of focusing on hurling Dialga and Palkia into one-another, maybe you should just let it come naturally."

The cat and fox blinked and looked at one-another. Perhaps the rabbit was right. Rillaboom, all the while, was impressed. To think Scorbunny was the most rash member of their trio at first.

With all of that in mind, Vaporeon and Zeraora kept at it for the next few days with the others there to support them all the way. And it was during their tenth sparring match with Melmetal and Shaymin that they finally got it.

Melmetal stretched his arm out toward Zeraora and spun his hexagonal nut, shouting, "HARD BUZZ SAW!" only for the cat to lean under it and latch onto his wrist. He then swung the cyborg around and hurled him toward Shaymin.

The hedgehog was just about to dodge only for Vaporeon to take hold of her and toss her right into Melmetal's face. Thus both of them grunted in pain and fell hard on their backs. The others grinned and gave the Atlantic Catfish a round of applause while both teammates looked at each other with big smiles on their faces.

"We're ready for this," Vaporeon said with a big grin before Zeraora held up his fist and pounded it against hers. But, of course, pulling it off once was one thing. They knew they would need to spend the rest of the week practising this just to make sure they would truly be ready to use it on Dialga and Palkia. But one thing was for certain, their confidence could not have been higher.


	36. Chapter 36

A whole week had passed since the semi-finals ended. And while Machoke, Gardevoir and Aipom were still unconscious, everyone else was able to attend the match and cheer for Vaporeon and Zeraora. The duo had spent the whole time preparing themselves for this and they knew they were ready.

Dialga and Palkia were currently getting ready in the back room with various staff members from Hero Planet helping them. While Beedrill may have found their methods questionable, he certainly liked the idea of two of his own employees becoming the champions. As such, he figured he may as well give them all the help they needed.

Neither of them felt like they needed any combat assistance, but they did have a big entrance planned. After all, this would be their final tournament match, thus they really wanted to let the citizens of Earth know how much respect to give them.

Of course, Vaporeon's friends all stayed with her and Zeraora in the back to help them prepare as well. Much like the dragons, they, too, wished to make a bold statement. Of course, Scorbunny was given the simplest of tasks since she still could not move her legs, but she was just happy to be of help.

Zeraora took many deep breaths before Vaporeon rested a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we can do this. I know we can," the cat uttering, "Yeah, I know. It's just, wow, this is my first time fighting the forces of evil. This was already nerve-racking before, but now the fate of the world's at stake. I can't afford to lose."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," the fox sighed, "It's like I said before. Going into this tournament, I wanted so badly to be the one to beat these two, but after seeing them fight Shaymin and Melmetal, I hoped someone else would beat them for us. But now that we've made it this far, I can't turn back."

Drizzile smiled and rested a hand on her shoulder before he said, "And we'll be with you every step of the way," Rillaboom adding, "Hell yeah. After all of that training, those two won't stand a chance."

Scorbunny nodded and gave Vaporeon and Zeraora thumbs up with a big smile. Morgrem and Rolycoly, who were at work on a large banner, gave them reassuring smiles of their own. The fox could not help but let down a light tear as she wondered what she did to deserve such terrific friends.

Blaziken, Gallade and Hitmonchan sat among the crowd while the green man groaned, "I wanna be by Gardevoir's side right now. I feel like she needs me there to keep her company."

"Look, Gardevoir's independent now," Blaziken replied as she patted him on the shoulder, "Besides, we all need to be here to support our friends. If they lose this match, there's a chance the world will go to Hell."

"Wait, what!?" Gallade and Hitmonchan retorted, the chicken blinking as she suddenly remembered that she had not told them what she and the others had suspected. As such, she took a deep breath and said, "Try not to make a scene, but, well, there's a very, very high probability that Dialga and Palkia might be evil."

Gallade and Hitmonchan stared at her for a few seconds with their eyes wide and their jaws dropped. The green man then slapped his hands over his eyes and groaned, "Dammit! Is it too much to ask that we go one tournament without having to deal with a villain or two sneaking their way into it!? Why can these never just be sporting events!? Isn't the pressure of becoming champion bad enough!?"

Hitmonchan pouted and hugged him reassuringly before cooing, "There, there, everything will be okay. It always is," Gallade whimpering, "Yeah, you're right. Vaporeon and Zeraora will win for sure, even though Machoke and Gardevoir lost."

At that moment, Leafeon and Jolteon made their way into the bleachers and sat next to Blaziken. The tan fox stared at Gallade and uttered, "What's eating him?" Blaziken chuckling, "He's just worried Vaporeon and Zeraora will lose. I'm sure they'll be fine."

"Damn right they'll be," Jolteon remarked with her arms folded, "After all we did to prepare them for this, they'd better not lose! If they lose, I'll be really upset and then I'll cry and cry and cry and use up all my tissues!"

Leafeon stared at her and shook her head before she sighed, "Mommy's right. There's no way in Hell those two will lose. Dialga and Palkia have done really well so far, but they'll meet their match today."

Raboot took a seat as well and said, "I still think Vaporeon would have stood more of a chance with Scorbunny by her side, but I'm rooting for her all the way. After all, there's no way my cousin's girlfriend is going down!" Gallade, Hitmonchan and Blaziken staring at him with their eyes wide open.

All the while, a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and a blue business suit entered the crowd and made her way to the back row. This was Zeraora's mother, Megumi. She took a seat, breathed a sigh of relief and thought, 'Made it just in time.' She then pulled out her phone before her mind added, 'Once the fight is over, I'll let him know I came. I bet he'll be so happy.'

Everyone settled down when Beedrill, Butterfree and Nori took a seat, the wasp stating, "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been a great tournament so far. We've seen a plethora of heart-pounding matches, but this is the big one, the one that will end it all!"

"Both teams have really amazed us," Butterfree added, "All four of these fighters were unknown up until now. Hell, three of them are new to the world of heroism, and while one apparently has experience, none of it has ever been recorded for whatever reason. But her performance does speak louder than any footage ever could, so I guess there's no real reason to doubt her."

Nori nodded and stated, "I have to admit, though, I am genuinely surprised by all of this. I mean, who ever would have guessed Machoke of all fighters would not make it to the finals? It makes me wonder if these other two can put up nearly as good of a fight."

"Well, if they made it this far, it's certainly possible," Beedrill replied only for Butterfree to wonder if anyone could honestly say that. After all, Vaporeon did have a different ally for her forth match. But even so, it was the butterfly's job to be neutral, thus she said nothing.

Meanwhile, Vaporeon's friends heard the announcement from a speaker placed inside the training room. As such, Drizzile blinked and said, "Guess we'd better head to the bleachers."

Rillaboom nodded and added, "Yeah. We'll be ready to cheer like never before," Scorbunny nodding and giving Vaporeon a big smile.

Morgrem patted her on the shoulder and said, "We're rooting for you all the way," Rolycoly adding, "I wish we could have done a little bit more, but I'm just glad we got to contribute at all."

Vaporeon let down a light tear before she gave each of her friends a big hug one-by-one. She then kissed Scorbunny on the cheek and said, "Seriously, thank you all so much. I really couldn't have asked for better friends."

Zeraora bowed his head to them and added, "And, well, if I hadn't met all of you, I don't think I ever could have been truly happy. So thank you all so much for being my friends."

All six of the others gave him warm smiles before they came in and gave him a big group hug. The cat's eyes were wide with shock, but that soon turned to a big smile of his own. Even though he would have to say goodbye to them forever once this match ended, he would always remember this moment.

With all said and done, all but Vaporeon and Zeraora left the room to head to the bleachers. The teammates turned to one-another and pounded their fists together, a grin on Zeraora's face while he said, "Let's go save the world," Vaporeon nodding with a serious look in her eyes.

Once the other heroes of Edmonton took their seats, Beedrill exclaimed, "And now, without further ado, it's time to announce the teams for this match! In the blue corner, one is a feisty fox with incredible power and skill! Another is a ferocious feline who I'm sure will continue to shock and amaze us all! Give it up for the Atlantic Catfish!"

The crowd watched in awe when the cat and fox marched toward the area with serious looks in their eyes. Above their head was a banner that said 'Team Spirit' in fancy writing with a very colourful background, each hero holding up the pole closest to them. Rolycoly bit his lower lip and squealed, "Wow, everyone gets to see my handiwork again!" Gallade uttering, "Wow, you made that banner?"

Once they were close enough to the ring, they planted the banner into the ground. Vaporeon then curled her tail like a spring as Zeraora crouched down, both leaping high into the air and landing perfectly against the canvas. The cheers were even louder while they rose their arms in the air, big smiles on their faces.

"Yeah, looking good, guys!" Leafeon squealed before Jolteon shouted, "That was such a cool entrance and really fitting for a final match! Oh man, I'm so excited, I could... I could..." Her eyelids then started to sag, so she pulled out a cup of coffee and gulped it down before exclaiming, "I could just run into that ring right now!"

Leafeon let out a sigh and groaned, "Please don't," the others equally supportive of Vaporeon and Zeraora's entrance.

All the while, Megumi smiled and thought, 'Wow, he looks so professional. I'm so glad I could be here to see this.'

"And in the red corner-" Butterfree stated, "are the first representatives of Hero Planet to ever partake in a tournament! Both have proven themselves a major force to be reckoned with! As mentioned earlier, they took down our former champions, the Glamourous Fighting Machines! And now they come to us most likely to dazzle us even more! Give a round of applause for the Time Space Squad!"

Many members of the crowd were beyond ecstatic when Dialga and Palkia rode toward the ring on the back of a large float. Long flamethrowers released streams of fire into the air while a dramatic musical score played in the background. Both dragons leapt high into the air and landed firmly against the mat before they held their arms up and shouted, "HELLO, TOKYO!"

Scorbunny stared at this and uttered, "Wow, they actually put effort into this one," Rillaboom frowning and grunting, "It's because they think they've already won. Just wait'll they see how prepared Vaporeon and Zeraora are."

Dialga smirked at Vaporeon and said, "Congrats on making it this far. We've been looking forward to this match," the fox and cat glaring at him before he sighed, "Come now. Don't treat us like enemies. Treat us more like friendly rivals."

"Right, and I'm just supposed to ignore what you did to my friends," Vaporeon retorted, Palkia shrugging and replying, "She's got a point," only for Dialga to scowl at her. Thus she grinned nervously and held her hands behind her back.

The blue dragon then sighed, "Well, I guess your reaction is understandable. All things considered, I'm amazed that three of the fighters we defeated are here to watch our match," Shaymin growling, "Oh, that arrogant little shit stain! Let me at him! I'll kick his ass this time!"

Melmetal rested a hand on her shoulder and sighed, "Easy does it, Shaymin. It's up to those two now," the hedgehog folding her arms and pouting.

Zeraora took a deep breath, placed his fist against his palm and bowed his head to the dragons before he said, "You have no idea how much you'll regret coming to this time period," Dialga's eyes wide with shock before Vaporeon stared briefly at him. Luckily, the cat had said this quietly enough for no one in the bleachers to hear, but it was still a big risk.

With all said and done, the Atlantic Catfish moved to their side of the ring, Zeraora glaring at the dragons while Vaporeon was about to scold him for saying that. However, when she saw the fear in Dialga's eyes, her confidence grew. Just the fact that it was possible to intimidate someone that powerful was more than enough for her, and so she decided to let this slide.

Palkia bit her lower lip and whimpered, "You heard what he said, right? What if everyone else knows?" Dialga remarking, "No. They can't prove we're from the future without messing up the time line, so there's nothing to worry about. He's probably the only one they've told, and he seems to be trying to keep it hidden. We're still safe."

But as the dragons walked to their own side of the ring, the blue dragon grunted, "Still, once this match is over, it won't matter. We'll reveal our secret to the world and make him our first real victim. After all, if we don't kill someone, people might not take us seriously as a threat."

Once both teams were ready, Beedrill looked back and forth between them. He then nodded and stated, "Well, folks, the combatants are set! Without any further ado, let's begin!"

After Nori rang the bell, Dialga and Palkia immediately raced toward their opponents with their arms raised. Vaporeon smirked and thought, 'Really? What a basic approach to start with. This'll be even easier than I-'

Her train of thought was cut off when Dialga suddenly swerved to the right and sent a roundhouse into her side. She gasped in pain as she could tell from this one hit that these dragons really were as strong as they first seemed. And it only got worse when the blue dragon lifted the blue fox up by her tail and started to swing her around.

When Zeraora saw this, he readied a counter of his own only for Palkia to fly into the air and swing her tail into his face. She then latched her legs to his neck, leaned forward and grabbed his ankles. She jabbed her claws into those very spots and flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, planting the back of his head into the canvas while Megumi resisted the urge to gasp.

When Dialga noticed this, he smirked and hurled Vaporeon into the ropes. Then after she bounced off, he held out his arm and allowed her neck to run right into it before she fell on her back. The crowd along with Vaporeon's friends all watched this in stunned silence. While the dragons had taken such an approach to combat before, they had never done so this early in the match.

"You must think you're really smart, don't you?" Dialga scoffed before he flipped Vaporeon onto her belly, mounted himself onto her back and wrapped his arms around her neck, "You were thinking of countering my first move and throwing me into Palkia, weren't you? Considering you two have no other ways to really hurt us, it was the most obvious strategy you could have thought up, so Palkia and I planned for it in advance."

Palkia was currently standing on Zeraora's hands while she continued to hold onto his ankles and pulled back. This caused him to arch backward as he cried out in pain. But as bad as this was, right now, he was even more upset that the dragons had figured out his and Vaporeon's strategy so easily.

"Oh, come on!" Rillaboom groaned as she clutched onto the sides of her head, "You've gotta be kidding! We spent so long preparing them for this!"

Shaymin nodded and whined, "I know they're tough, but they're not this smart!" Melmetal equally disappointed. However, after having seen them enough times in combat, the others were not so sure if they could back up the hedgehog's words.

But despite this, Zeraora refused to let himself and Vaporeon lose so easily. Thus he narrowed his eyelids and turned his head around to make sure Dialga was close enough. When he was certain of it, he pulled his arms forward as hard as he could. After a few seconds he managed to slide them out from under Palkia's feet and planted them against the canvas.

Before the purple dragon could react, he lifted her up off the mat with his legs before he threw them backward. This was just enough for her claws to fly out of his ankles before she flew straight into Dialga's face. The crowd cheered wildly when the blue dragon grunted in pain and released his old on Vaporeon, falling on his back along with his partner.

Vaporeon took many deep breaths as Megumi smiled wide, happy to have recorded that amazing counter. She then texted the recording to the cat's father and thought, 'Just as I promised, I filmed our son's first impressive move. He's gonna be so proud.'

Zeraora approached Vaporeon and said, "They may have seen our plan coming, but that doesn't mean we can't still pull it off," the blue fox nodding with a light smile and replying, "Yeah. Thanks for the save, partner," both pounding their fists together.

Dialga rose to his feet and grunted, "Don't act so confident. I promise, you won't pull that off again," Palkia nodding before she and the blue dragon dashed away from each other. After that, they pressed up against the ropes and bounced off, Vaporeon and Zeraora unprepared. As such, the blue fox took a hard kick to her cheek courtesy of Dialga while Zeraora succumbed to a headbutt from Palkia.

To make matters worse, the blue dragon's body was covered in a matching aura while the purple dragon's body was a darker shade and her forehead glowed pink as she shouted, "SPACIAL HEADBUTT!"

Despite the fact that Zeraora had only taken in a few hit, this one move was enough to draw blood from his mouth as his mother covered hers with her hands. The others also watched with concern while Scorbunny growled, "They really thought this through! Come on, guys, deal another counter!"

It seemed less and less likely that Zeraora and Vaporeon would be able to send either dragon into the other again when both moved in various directions. Each time they did, one would leap forward and strike one hero. Vaporeon took in ten strikes while Zeraora succumbed to thirteen, both of them already looking incredibly weak.

"This is way more one-sided than expected!" Beedrill exclaimed, "The Atlantic Catfish have only dealt one hit while the Time Space Squad continue to dominate! Can these two newcomers possibly get the upper hand or will this be the second-shortest match in team tournament history!?"

"Wait, second?" Drizzle uttered before Shaymin explained, "Yeah, it was way back in the day. Graveler and Scizor went up against Bastiodon and Rampardos and lost in less than thirty seconds."

Megumi bit her lower lip and thought, 'Come on, son. You can do better than this,' while Vaporeon panted heavily and grunted, "Shaymin was right. I want to at least counter them, but they hit way too hard. I can't find the strength to hit them back."

Zeraora felt the same. As much as he wanted to be a little optimistic, it really seemed as if Machoke and Gardevoir were the only ones who really had a chance of beating the dragons. But when he closed his eyes, he remembered this was not just another match, thus he waited for Dialga to leap toward him and covered his tail in electricity.

"LIGHTNING SLASH!" he exclaimed before he swiped it upward into Dialga's outstretched leg. But while this put a light cut in the blue dragon, it did not cause him to bleed, so he easily ignored it and planted his foot into the cat's face while Vaporeon succumbed to a strike from Palkia.

"Well, that was at least a valiant attempt, but as you've seen from our match with Shaymin and Melmetal, we can handle that sort of thing," Dialga quipped. He then wrapped his arms around Zeraora and planted his claws into his back, adding, "It's a real shame to end this so quickly, but we really want to win."

Vaporeon frowned and grunted, "No!" before wrapping her tail around Palkia's ankle. She then yanked hard enough to cause the purple dragon to fall backward, but this hardly made a difference when she placed her hands against the canvas and swung her feet upward into the blue fox's chin. Dialga leapt high into the air and leaned backward, shouting, "METAL DRAGON SUPLEX!"

Zeraora gritted his teeth and wrapped his legs around Dialga. He then jabbed the claws on his feet into the blue dragon's lower back and covered said feet in sparks, shouting, "PLASMA SHOES!"

But much like when the dragons hit the electric cage in their match with Machoke and Gardevoir, this dealt next to nothing. As such, Dialga took a deep breath and sighed, "Well, I'll give you this, you definitely have fighting spirit."

Just as the cat's skull was seconds away from the mat, though, Vaporeon ignored Palkia's kick. She then took hold of her ankles and growled, "We prepared extra hard for this and you are not going to ruin our strategy!"

Thus she leaned backward and hurled Palkia toward Dialga. The blue dragon's eyes widened when she flew right into his forehead, causing him to cry out in pain and release his hold on Zeraora. Since the cat had just enough time, he wrapped his arms around the blue dragon and planted the claws into his upper back.

The crowd watched in amazement when he took full advantage of Dialga's distraction and used all his might to flip him one hundred and eighty degrees. Luckily, he pulled this off just in time for the blue dragon's skull to hit the canvas hard, his eyes and mouth wide with shock.

While this did not hurt quite as much as it should have, it still dealt quite a bit of pain. After all, he had taken in two blows from Palkia, so it only made sense that he would feel a touch weak now.

"Way to go!" Rillaboom exclaimed, Drizzile wiping sweat off of his forehead and sighing, "Thank god. They do stand a chance."

Scorbunny nodded and replied, "Was there ever any doubt?" Morgrem and Rolycoly shaking their heads. And of course, Leafeon and Jolteon were both glad to see Vaporeon pull this off.

Melmetal, meanwhile, narrowed his eye and grunted, "You guys might be celebrating a little too early. It's good that they landed a couple of good hits. Clearly, they've left at least Dialga a little vulnerable. But that's only step one."

Blaziken bit the lower half of her beak and sighed, "I hate to say it, but he's right. Machoke and Gardevoir did way more than this without taking in nearly as much damage themselves. Vaporeon and Zeraora will need to do a lot more to make up for all the hits they took in earlier."

"Yeah, but they can do it," Drizzile replied with a grin, Gallade sighing, "I really hope so. I wanna share your confidence, but what I've seen from these two has me really nervous, especially now that I know that those two dragons are, well, you-know-what."

The chameleon and his friends all stared briefly at him before Jolteon asked, "Wait, they're what? What are they? Are they invincible? Because that would make this really, really, really difficult!" Raboot sighing, "Don't bother. I'm just as out of the loop as you are."

With Dialga and Palkia distracted, Vaporeon and Zeraora had to ignore all the pain they succumbed to earlier. They had a golden opportunity here and there was no way they would not take it. Thus each took hold of one of Dialga's ankles, lifted him up and rammed the back of his head into Palkia's face.

The purple dragon gasped when her forehead came open and a small bit of blood trickled down from it. And it did not end there when Vaporeon wrapped her arms around her, Zeraora doing the same to Dialga. Both then leaned backward and lifted their respective dragons up before they spat, "DOUBLE SUPLEX SKULL BASH!"

Just as the name implied, the Atlantic Catfish rammed the Time Space Squad's skulls into one-another, so the dragons coughed up blood before their opponents released their holds and allowed them to collapse. The cheers from the crowd grew louder while Megumi's eyes sparkled. She could not have been more proud of her son right now.

But of course, everyone knew this was far from over. It showed when Dialga and Palkia rose back to their feet and did their best to pretend that the blows to their skulls meant nothing. The blue dragon turned to face the heroes before him and growled, "Okay, clearly we underestimated you. We won't make that mistake again."


	37. Chapter 37

While Zeraora and Vaporeon had a very rough start, they were finally able to make progress. Dialga and Palkia had not succumbed to a lot of hits, but they were vulnerable now. This was at least enough to even the playing field, thus the heroes felt more than confident.

"What a comeback, folks!" Nori exclaimed, "The Time Space Squad had the upper hand for a while, but the Atlantic Catfish have managed to really turn things around! But can they keep this up!?"

Palkia took a deep breath and said, "Big deal. So they've gotten us to bleed. We beat this time's champions. We can beat them easily, right?" Dialga nodding and replying, "Indeed. I gotta hand it to you, it really seems like we've been on the same page as of late. Not all the time, but more than usual."

"What can I say?" the purple dragon asked, "You're a good influence," the blue dragon feeling slightly embarrassed by that, though he was unsure why.

Zeraora struck a fighting pose while Megumi smiled and thought, 'That's right, son. Keep it up. I'll still be proud of you even if you lose, but I've seen enough to know that you can do far better than this.'

Dialga formed his blue aura while Palkia covered her body in a dark purple coat and turned her claws pink. When Vaporeon saw this, she readied herself and said, "Alright, now we can fight like we normally do."

Zeraora nodded when the dragons raced toward them with their claws at the ready. Vaporeon leapt to the side and evaded a slash from Palkia while Zeraora did the same with Dialga. However, both gasped when the the blue dragon knelt down and swept his leg toward Zeraora's ankles, the purple dragon aiming her tail for Vaporeon. But when the heroes managed to leap over them, it seemed as if the dragons wanted this when they rose up and swung their claws upward against the heroes' sides.

"METAL DRAGON UPPERCUT!" Dialga barked as Palkia shouted, "SPACIAL REND!" Blood flew from the Atlantic Catfish while their friends winced.

Things only got worse when Palkia turned her arms pink and rammed her right one sideways into Vaporeon's neck, exclaiming, "SPACIAL WHACK!" Dialga, meanwhile, flipped a full three hundred and sixty degrees backwards and swung his feet into Zeraora's cheek. As a result, both heroes fell on their sides before the dragons leapt into the air and planted their elbows into their rib cages.

The Atlantic Catfish coughed up blood while Shaymin frowned and grunted, "I know it's too early to assume, but they need to be more careful. They took in so much damage earlier," Rillaboom remarking, "Take it from the one who discovered Dialga and Palkia's weakness in the first place. Making them vulnerable doesn't guarantee smooth sailing against them."

Dialga and Palkia prepared to strike the heroes again only for Vaporeon and Zeraora to link their tails together. They then rolled away from the incoming strikes before they propelled themselves into the air. Zeraora covered all but the tip of his tail in electricity while Vaporeon formed her ice sphere, each dragon taking one to the neck before the heroes exclaimed, "HAIL STORM WHIP!"

Things only got better when Vaporeon released Zeraora. The Atlantic Catfish swung their tails around afterwards, the blue fox squealing, "ICE FLAIL ROUNDHOUSE!" as Zeraora barked, "LIGHTNING SLASH!"

The ice struck Palkia hard in the cheek as the tail cut open Dialga's chest. But while the dragons took in a lot of pain from this, they refused to let this get to them. Thus they latched onto the tails that struck them and lifted them up.

Luckily, Zeraora and Vaporeon were prepared for this, so the blue fox melted her ice ball and slipped her tail out of Palkia's grip. Zeraora did the same with his own tail before both heroes wrapped their arms and legs around their opponents from behind while turned upside-down. They then flipped one hundred and eighty degrees, planting the Time Space Squad's skulls into the canvas before the crowd went wild.

"And once again, the Atlantic Catfish amaze us all with a very impressive counter!" Butterfree stated, "It would seem both of them are determined not to take in any more serious damage from their opponents, and who can blame them? After what The Time Space Squad pulled off against their past opponents, they need to bring their A game to the table!"

But just as Zeraora and Vaporeon were about to release their opponents, Dialga grunted, "Did you seriously think that would be enough to stop us?" latching his legs onto Zeraora's neck. He then applied enough pressure to get the cat to release him while Palkia placed her hands against the mat and pushed herself high into the air along with Vaporeon.

Dialga pushed himself up and leaned backward, planting the back of Zeraora's head into the canvas. Meanwhile, Palkia used her wings to perform a U-turn, thus she was now upright while Vaporeon's skull was aimed at the canvas. The purple dragon then turned to face the blue fox, wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her knees up against the side of her head.

Sure enough, Vaporeon was unable to break free this time and her skull was slammed hard against the canvas as the crowd gasped. With both heroes down, Dialga smirked at Palkia and asked, "What say we end this once and for all?"

The purple dragon nodded before Dialga's aura formed around him. Palkia also turned her skin dark purple once more, lifted Vaporeon back up and said, "I'd really like it if you stand right there."

Dialga did the same with Zeraora, both heroes too dazed to even respond. With that, the blue dragon leapt toward Palkia who wrapped her arms around him and lifted him up. After she pointed him forward, the blue dragon extended his claws forward while Palkia wrapped her legs around him and did the same with her hands. Both proceeded to soar toward their opponents and spin like a drill, shouting, "SPACE TIME DRILL!"

At that moment, Vaporeon and Zeraora managed to regain just enough strength to see this. Thus they panicked and leapt to the side, and while they avoided the full blunt of the attack, they took a sharp scrape to their ankles and fell on their sides.

But while the heroes were clearly in pain, Blaziken still looked relieved as she sighed, "Good, at least they're still in this," Gallade nodding and replying, "Yeah, that could have been so much worse.

It seemed Dialga realized this when he turned to the heroes and grunted, "Dammit, that's not good enough." But while Palkia was just glad their attack landed at all, she could see where the blue dragon came from. With that in mind, she took to the sky and flew toward Zeraora, scooping him up by the shoulders and flying high into the air.

Dialga grinned and said, "Good thinking," before he raced toward Vaporeon and reached for her legs. However, the blue fox refused to let him get the upper hand as she covered the tip of her tail in ice again and spat, "ICE FLAIL CLIP!"

She then swung her tail sideways and struck Dialga's ankles. This caused him to lose his balance and fall on his back before Vaporeon wrapped her tail around his shins and barked, "ICE SUPLEX!" slamming his chest into the canvas.

She then boosted herself high into the air toward Palkia just as she performed a U-turn in midair and dove toward the canvas. But just as she was seconds away from ramming Zeraora's head into the mat, her eyes widened when Vaporeon spun vertically toward her and rammed her ice sphere into her back, shouting, "BOUNCING ICE BALL!"

This was enough for Palkia to release her hold, and while Zeraora did fall on his upper back, he took in significantly less pain than if the purple dragon's move landed. As such, he flipped back onto his feet and let out a sigh of relief before he smiled at Vaporeon. But of course, there was no way he would let this chance go, thus he leapt up to Palkia's height before she could fall, lifted his fists over his head and engulfed his forearms in electricity.

"PLASMA FISTS!" he barked before he swung his arms downward and rammed his fists into the purple dragon's gut. She coughed up blood and fell hard on her back while the crowd cheered wildly.

Dialga gritted his teeth and growled, "No!" before he leapt toward the cat with his leg at the ready. However, Vaporeon and Zeraora were more than ready for this when they nodded at one-another and flipped vertically toward the blue dragon. Electricity covered Zeraora's tail while Vaporeon formed her ice sphere, both placing the tips of their tails up against each other.

"FROZEN THUNDER BALL!" both shouted before they rammed said parts into Dialga's forehead, blood flying out as he gasped in pain and fell hard on his back.

"Way to go, guys!" Scorbunny squealed with a big grin, "Damn, they've really turned this match around!" Shaymin genuinely impressed. She knew both heroes were good, but she never imagined they would be able to regain the upper hand this many times against villains this strong and skilled.

"Those lizards never stood a chance!" Morgrem quipped before Drizzile stared at her, the goblin grinning nervously and uttering, "Sorry."

"I hate to admit it, but they're doing better than Aipom and I did," Rillaboom sighed, "They may have started out with everything going against them, but they really turned things around. I just know they can win at this rate."

And of course, Megumi could not have been happier to see all of this. On top of Zeraora being a good fighter, she had to admit that Vaporeon really was a great ally for him. She would certainly need to sit down with her husband and have him watch the footage on TV with her after she returned home.

However, as it so happened, after he saw the footage the woman sent him earlier, he had put everything on hold to watch the match. The being in question was a yellow sabre-tooth tiger with black markings along his body and a white underside. His thin light-blue tail was the shape of a lightning bolt with points that resembled a spark on the tip. He had a matching muzzle shaped like an X and a black face plate over his forehead. His name was Raikou.

While he watched the footage, he smiled and thought, 'Son, you're even better than I could have imagined. I would have been fine if you never sought to follow this path, but I couldn't be more proud of you right now.'

At that moment, Vaporeon froze up and uttered, "Wait, Zeraora, do you see this?" the cat blinking and enquiring, "What do you mean?"

"We have a golden opportunity here," the blue fox replied with a grin, "If we hit him hard enough, we could probably knock his voice out of him." The cat beamed bright and nodded before Vaporeon curled her tail like a spring.

Palkia opened her eyes at this moment and slowly sat upright, groaning, "Dammit, why are these two so strong?" She then noticed Vaporeon leap high into the air before Zeraora jumped above her and prepared to plant his feet into her shoulder while she formed her ice ball again.

"Is she gonna send that into Dialga's gut like an anvil?" Blaziken uttered before Hitmonchan beamed and squealed, "Looks like it! This'll be good!"

Shaymin and Melmetal, on the other hand, knew exactly what the duo was up to. Thus they nodded at one-another only to notice Palkia take to the sky with her skin dark purple and her hands bright pink. Thus they both spat, "Guys, look out!"

Unfortunately, it was too late when Palkia clenched her hands into fists, rammed them into their backs and shouted, "SPACIAL FIST!" This caused the heroes to gasp in pain before they flew over the ropes and landed hard against the ground outside of the ring, Nori immediately starting the twenty count.

"No!" Rolycoly cried with his hands against the sides of his head, "They were doing so well!" Morgrem patting him on the back and saying, "Hey, calm down. They'll turn this around again, I'm sure of it."

The Atlantic Catfish would need to act soon, though, when Palkia descended toward them and planted her feet into their guts. She then turned the claws on said feet pink and exclaimed, "SPACIAL REND TWO POINT O!" scraping them against the heroes, putting big cuts on them and causing them to bleed heavily while they cried in agony.

Dialga rose to his feet just in time to see this. A big grin formed on his face as Nori reached six seconds. He figured that was more than enough time, thus he leapt over the ropes and landed beside his partner before he said, "Hey, Palkia, I'd like to win through more traditional means. A ring-out wouldn't be satisfying, especially after what they just put us through."

Palkia blinked and nodded with a smile before she said, "Yeah, you got a point there. We beat everyone else by knock-out. May as well do the same for our final opponents."

With that in mind, she lifted up Vaporeon by the legs, keeping her upside-down. She then flew high above the canvas and lowered her hands to the blue fox's thighs before she planted her claws into them, turning these claws pink first.

Dialga, meanwhile, held Zeraora in the same way and leapt right under Palkia. He then dug his claws into the cat's legs and upper back. Both descended toward the canvas as all went silent among the crowd. There was no doubt about it. This move would end the match for sure.

"SPACE TIME DRIVER!" the Time Space Squad spat when Vaporeon's skull was pressed up against Zeraora's feet. And sure enough, the cat's skull hit the canvas, his mouth wide open while a large amount of blood spewed out. Vaporeon coughed up some of the liquid herself before Dialga and Palkia released them and allowed them to collapse.

Nori stared at this along with many others, Beedrill exclaiming, "This match just keeps going back and forth! Just as it seems like one team will win, the other gains a huge comeback! However, that looked especially brutal, not to mention that move also defeated Machoke and Gardevoir! Can the Atlantic Catfish recover from that or is this match truly over!?"

Unfortunately, despite how much Vaporeon and Zeraora could normally sustain, this one move seemed to be enough to take them out for good. Not only were they not moving but their eyes had rolled to the backs of their heads. Thus Nori started the ten count while Scorbunny squeaked, "No! Get up!"

Megumi stared with concern and thought, 'You fought your best, son. I just hope you'll recover from that soon,' Vaporeon and Zeraora's friends all cheering for them along with most of the crowd.

"Well, that certainly lasted longer than expected," Beedrill stated, "Though it's still the shortest final match in this tournament to date," Nori reaching seven seconds.

When Shaymin saw that the Atlantic Catfish had no chance of getting up along with the murderous look in Dialga's eyes, she took a deep breath and took on her Sky form. She then flew toward the announcer's desk, took hold of Nori's microphone and barked, "Everyone, we must stop this match right now! The Time Space Squad are evil and I finally have proof!"

Beedrill was about to chew her out before he blinked and uttered, "Wait, you have proof?" Butterfree adding, "But then what was that talk about you claiming that because you were cranky or something?"

The hedgehog sighed, "Melmetal only said that so you'd let us compete. In fact, I'd hoped someone would defeat these two without me having to bring this out," pulling out a microchip, "What I have here is security footage of these two committing not only theft but mass murder."

Dialga stared in shock and thought, 'What is she thinking? Doesn't she know what will happen?' Palkia trying her hardest not to look terrified right now. After all, the last thing she wanted was to make it obvious that this security footage was legit.

Beedrill held out his stinger and said, "Nori, hold off on that ten count. We're going to study this footage," Butterfree examining the chip and saying, "Wow, this is a really fancy design. I've never seen anything like it."

And so, Shaymin handed the chip to a staff member who inserted it into a computer. All the while, Rillaboom blinked and uttered, "Wait, would a microchip from our time even work on past computers?" Raboot remarking, "What do you mean your time?" he, Leafeon and Jolteon even more confused when Drizzile added, "You'd think so, but for some reason, mankind hasn't really altered microchips all that much. They're stronger now, but they pretty much use the same programming."

Just as Drizzile suspected, the chip did indeed work. The footage was shown on a nearby jumbotron, the crowd gasping when they saw the footage of multiple guards being struck down. Although Beedrill and Butterfree were mostly confused as this looked like the interior of Hero Planet's Tower of Justice.

The footage went on to show the dragons breaking open the big safe with their power sources in them. All the while, the crowd nodded in understanding since the earlier footage showed Palkia without her wings. And on top of that, the footage also showcased Shaymin being brought down by the duo, though Dialga using his Roar of Time had not been caught on film. After all, he had done that while standing on top of the tower, and there were no cameras pointed toward that area.

Even so, Beedrill nodded and said, "That's definitely footage from Hero Planet. To think they stole from us and harmed so many guards without us noticing."

"Well, no shit we didn't notice that," Butterfree remarked, "First off, when have we ever had an orb and a pair of wings locked away in the tower? And secondly, I didn't recognize any of those guards."

Shaymin bit her lower lip and thought, 'Oh no, do I tell them?' Beedrill sighing, "For all I know, this could have been staged," only for Nori to gasp, "Wait, look at that!"

She then directed everyone's attention to a date written on the lower right hand corner of the screen. Beedrill blinked and uttered, "So this footage was all recorded on..." his eyes wide with shock as he spat, "JULY TWENTY THIRD, TWO THOUSAND AND NINETY NINE!?"

Most of the crowd went quiet, Lucario, Amanda and Veronica all staring at one-another. Blaziken, Gallade and Hitmonchan looked at their new friends while Raboot pulled his ears sideways and spat, "Wait, what!? This makes no sense!"

Jolteon grinned wide before Leafeon uttered, "Wow, Mommy, you were right," the other four from this time period retorting, "You knew about this!?"

Morgrem and Rolycoly laughed nervously before Scorbunny nodded and said, "Yeah, it's exactly as it looks," smiling at Raboot and adding, "It was nice getting to meet you in your prime, Great Grandpa."

Raboot blinked and said, "Oh, so that's why Vaporeon almost called me that. At least I still look young and sexy," striking a supermodel pose while the others shook their heads at him.

Shaymin took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, see, I've actually had this proof all along. The only problem was that showing you this meant that I'd have to reveal that we're from the future," Beedrill and Butterfree both spellbound until she formed a cute grin and added, "In fact, I don't mean to brag, but I'm actually Hero Planet's first chairwoman!"

Everyone except for the heroes of Edmonton continued to stare, only now their jaws were dropped. And in the hospital, Aipom just happened to be awake to hear this, the monkey looking at Rillaboom when the camera pointed at her. She could not believe she had fought alongside a hero from the future.

Sure enough, everything they just heard would soon be confirmed when Dialga chuckled, Palkia staring awkwardly at him before that chuckle grew into heavy laughter. "So you actually went and did it!" he exclaimed, "You revealed our little secret to everyone! Indeed, everyone, what you've just heard is correct! We are technically what you all refer to as evil! In fact, we're actually from a generation ahead of Shaymin and her group!"

The audience trembled as he explained, "We actually come from a time when evil had almost been entirely wiped out. Luckily, members of my family were born with a special power called The Roar of Time! I used it to go back to their time period, but I was defeated. The source of my power was stolen and locked away, as were Palkia's wings! So if anything, we were simply retrieving what belonged to us in the first place!"

Palkia bit her lower lip only for Dialga to nod, thus she smirked and added, "That's right! We came here because we knew no one from this era could possibly defeat us! Our plan is to spread fear all across the land so that the heroes of the world will fear us and switch to our side!"

"So that's their plan," Melmetal uttered before the Dialga snickered, "You know what the best part of all of this is!? You're too late to reveal this information, Shaymin! We were gonna spill the beans after we won, and as you can see, we already have!"

He then directed everyone's attention back to Zeraora and Vaporeon while Megumi breathed heavily, Raikou's eyes wide with terror as he thought, 'I need to get there right away and save my family!' getting up from his seat and wondering how he could possibly do that in such a short period of time.

The blue dragon grinned at Beedrill and said, "Oh, but by all means, disqualify us. After all, we're villains in a tournament for heroes. It doesn't matter, though, because we're not leaving this ring! Hell, if any of the heroes watching this match would like to face us, then come on in and do so! We were gonna kill these two to make a statement, but you guys have much more status in this time line!"

Most of the audience trembled, Lucario clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as Palkia pointed at him and said, "You'd make an excellent victim for us. After all, your family has been quite the burden to us villains for generations. We'd be better off without you in our army," Dialga adding, "Or perhaps Mr. Chairman and his wife will face us. There won't be any need for them in our perfect world."

Beedrill and Butterfree were tempted to fly in there and prove them wrong. But just as things were about to heat up, the crowd went silent when a familiar voice spat, "Don't even think about it!"

Everyone stared when Vaporeon's eyes rolled back into place and she pushed herself back to her feet. Zeraora then regained consciousness himself and followed suit before he panted, "As you can see, we still haven't been defeated yet, so until this match ends, no one else will have to risk their lives!"

The crowd stared silently for a few seconds before breaking out into heavy cheers and applause. While such things had happened many times in the past, this was still an incredible moment. Blaziken smirked and said, "Just like Machoke," as Gallade and Hitmonchan nodded.

At this point, everyone had gotten over the fact that Vaporeon and her friends were from the future. All that mattered was that they could still fight, thus there was a chance that Dialga and Palkia could be defeated. Needless to say, all of this support made Zeraora especially happy, a big smile on his face while a tear fell from his eye.

"It really is a wonderful feeling, isn't it?" he asked, Vaporeon nodding and replying, "Yep, it sure is."

However, the cat's eyes widened when Megumi stood up and cheered, "Kick their asses into next week! Make them wish they'd never set foot in our time line!"

Zeraora turned toward the woman with a big open-mouth smile before a grin formed on his face. He then pounded his fist against his palm and grunted, "Right! We can still beat them! I know we can!" Vaporeon nodding only for Dialga and scoff, "Big deal. If Nori hadn't stopped the ten count, you would have been declared the losers already. At least now that our secret's revealed, we can kill you without the need for a ten count."

While this was certainly promising, the Time Space Squad was still a major threat. Could the Atlantic Catfish defeat them or would their second chance prove pointless?


	38. Chapter 38

Just as it looked like things were truly over, the Atlantic Catfish were given another chance to end this match. But now that everyone knew that Dialga and Palkia were evil, they no longer had any reason to hold back. Could the cat and blue fox win or would their efforts prove fruitless?

Dialga smirked at the heroes and said, "I'll admit, this is actually comical now. Do you honestly believe all your efforts in this ring are worth it? All you're really doing is delaying the inevitable. I mean, seriously, what is it with you heroes and your persistence?"

Zeraora gritted his teeth as Vaporeon retorted, "We spend months training super hard to endure many battles on Earth. We take classes and risk our lives day in and day out. We're Earth's protectors! We fight for duty and pride! You can tare us limb from limb, but we'll always rise to our feet and keep fighting until the end!"

The crowd cheered while Scorbunny beamed bright and sniffed, "That's my girlfriend," Raboot still trying to get over the fact that he had been hanging out with his great granddaughter this whole time.

Of course, everyone else shouted their own words of encouragement for Vaporeon and Zeraora. Sure, these two may not have been as strong as Machoke or as graceful as Gardevoir, but they seemed like the right ones to take on the dragons. There was no doubt these two could prevent the horrible future that Dialga and Palkia planned to create.

Naturally, both wished to prove this, so they waited for Dialga and Palkia to race toward them before they leapt to the side. Once again, Zeraora's tail was covered in electricity while a ball of ice formed on the tip of Vaporeon's. The blue fox swung hers into Dialga's gut and Zeraora sent a fierce slash into Palkia's waist, both heroes shouting, "LIGHTNING FLAIL SLASH!"

Blood squirted out of the purple dragon while the blue dragon winced in pain. And things only got worse for them when Vaporeon latched her tail around Palkia's neck, leaned backward and lifted her up, shouting, "ICE FRANKENSTEINER!" ramming the back of her head into the canvas.

But of course, Dialga was not exactly off the hook either. Zeraora flipped him upside-down and leapt high into the air. Sparks formed on all of his claws before he jabbed them into the blue dragon's legs and upper back. And when he descended toward the mat, he wrapped his tail around Dialga's neck, sent electricity through it and shouted, "FELINE PILEDRIVER!"

When the blue dragon's skull hit the canvas, the crowd cheered wildly. As if that was not enough, his head seemed to be stuck in the material, thus Zeraora turned to Vaporeon and exclaimed, "Hey, what say we show them our ultimate move!?"

Vaporeon blinked and turned to see Dialga's predicament, thus a big smile formed on her face just in time for Palkia to rise to her feet. The blue fox leapt over to her and wrapped her arms around her. She then curled her tail like a spring and leapt high into the air.

Zeraora, all the while, took hold of Dialga's ankles and leapt high up himself, setting him up for the same move he just used. However, this time, he positioned himself under Vaporeon just in time for her to flip one hundred and eighty degrees and planted Palkia's head up against her partner's feet.

"TRAMPOLINE THUNDER CAT DRIVER!" both exclaimed while the cheers from the crowd became deafening. Their friends watched in anticipation as they felt like this might just be enough to end the match for good.

However, at that exact moment, Dialga's eyes widened as he grunted, "I don't think so!" before he lifted up his arms and latched them onto Zeraora's legs. He also moved his legs inward, and while this caused him additional pain, he ignored it and pressed his feet up against the cat's neck.

Palkia, meanwhile, latched onto Vaporeon's wrists and dug her claws into them. Dialga's aura formed while Palkia turned dark purple, her claws becoming bright pink. Then with little effort, the dragons managed to flip themselves and their opponents one hundred and eighty degrees and exclaimed, "TRAMPOLINE DRIVER REVERSAL!"

Sure enough, Vaporeon's skull hit the canvas hard while Zeraora's pressed up against her feet. Both coughed up blood before the Time Space Squad released them and allowed them to collapse. Panic spread through the area as Rillaboom groaned, "Oh, come on! They were doing so well!"

It did not end there, though. After all, Dialga and Palkia had planned from the start to make an example of the two heroes and kill them. As such, the purple dragon picked up Zeraora and tossed him on top of Vaporeon before she flew toward Dialga and scooped him up by his shoulders. Both rose high into the air before the blue dragon lashed out the claws on his feet and pointed them toward the heroes like a drill.

Palkia rose her body up until her feet were latched onto Dialga's shoulders before he smirked and said, "This may have failed to kill them before, but this time will be different." He and Palkia spun while they descended downward and shouted, "SPACE TIME DRILL TWO POINT O!"

As he suspected, the Atlantic Catfish were barely able to move, Drizzile gasping, "Come on, guys! Get up! You can still win!" Morgrem and Rolycoly holding onto one-another and trembling.

The crowd winced, many members covering their eyes when Dialga's claws made contact with Zeraora's gut. And while he and Palkia continued to spin, blood flew from the cat like a fountain. There was no doubt this would go all the way through, and once that happened, Vaporeon was next.

Megumi stared at this and panted heavily, whimpering, "No, my son," trying to hold back her tears. After all, she did not want to believe that this one move would really be enough to end his life. She truly believed he was better than that.

And just as Zeraora was about to black out, he tilted his head back toward that part of the crowd and noticed this. Just the sight of his mother that distraught was more than enough for him to ignore the pain to his gut, therefor he gritted his teeth, formed sparks around his claws and jammed them into Dialga's ankles, growling, "You will not have your way!"

Dialga and Palkia's eyes widened as this caused blood to fly from the ankles in question. However, the dragons were even more alarmed when this proved just enough to stop them from spinning after roughly twenty seconds. Zeraora took many deep breaths while the crowd stared in stunned silence, Megumi blinking and staring at this in shock.

That shock soon turned to a big smile when the cat rose up and held Dialga's feet up on his shoulders, grunting, "You know, when I decided to master my abilities and join this tournament, I only did it to gain respect from those who used to pick on me! But now I have something much more important to fight for! This is my chance to thwart evil and be a real hero, and nothing is going to stop me from achieving that!"

But of course, the most shocking thing of all was the fact that this skinny cat could support the weight of two powerful dragons as if it was nothing. But a few seconds later, this did not seem to be the case when he felt his shoulders start to cave in, panicked and thought, 'Right, less talking, more action.'

With that in mind, he threw the Time Space Squad forward and slamming their bellies into the canvas. He then lifted Palkia up not by her shoulders or feet, but by her wings. He lashed out his claws and planted them into the parts in question, grunting, "I was told these body parts of yours give you a huge amount of your power! If I can get rid of both of these, you won't be a threat to us anymore!"

Palkia's eyes and mouth were wide with terror as she struggled to free herself. She swiped her claws against the cat's skull, and while this drew plenty of blood, he ignored it and leapt into the air, barking, "FELINE POWERBOMB!"

He threw his arms downward and planted Palkia into Dialga's gut, but while this caused the blue dragon to cough up blood, unfortunately, this did not have the desired effect. Palkia's wings had loosened a little bit but were still attached to her shoulders and Dialga's voice was still inside of him.

"Oh, come on!" Shaymin cried as she clutched onto the sides of her head, "That was brilliant!" only for Melmetal to pat her on the shoulder and reply, "Hey, it's alright. That did have some effect. I'm sure with a few more moves like that, he can at least remove the wings."

"I dunno," Leafeon groaned, "I hate to be a buzzkill, but I get the feeling Palkia and Dialga aren't gonna let him try something like that again."

Scorbunny bit her lower lip and said, "I'm sure they can still win anyway. After all, those monsters were prepared for their opening strategy and yet Vaporeon and Zeraora still managed to weaken them. I'm sure they'll be able to land a hit like this again, and I bet it'll succeed next time."

Unfortunately, that looked highly unlikely. After the damage Zeraora had taken in combined with the weight he had allowed his shoulders to succumb to, he felt weak. And Dialga could see this after he rose to his feet, thus a smirk formed on his face when he noticed Vaporeon still had not yet recovered.

"It's like I said before," he grunted, "You're only delaying the inevitable. Admit it, you two never stood a chance. Machoke and Gardevoir may have lost to us, but they came much closer to victory than the two of you have. I almost feel bad for you."

However, once he stopped talking, he noticed many people staring awkwardly at him. Thus he looked among the crowd and asked, "What?" before he suddenly noticed his voice crack. He placed his hands up against his neck while Palkia stared at him and uttered, "Dude, isn't it way too late for you to go through puberty?"

"Shut up, it's not that!" he retorted before a look of terror formed in his eyes, "Oh my god! Palkia, he's managed to force my voice orb up into my throat!"

Everyone stared in shock before Drizzile nodded and said, "Okay, looks like that move had even more of an effect than I thought," Rillaboom grinning and exclaiming, "Damn! Zeraora's awesome!"

"In your face, you dick!" Morgrem and Rolycoly spat, Raboot saying, "You know, I'm actually impressed. Even I couldn't have pulled that off."

"I'm with you," Blaziken replied, "As much as I hate to admit it, that feline's something special," Gallade and Hitmonchan both giving a loud cheer.

Jolteon and Leafeon grinned at one-another while Scorbunny nodded her head in approval. But most of all, Shaymin could not help but feel a sense of relief. Just hearing this gave her hope that Dialga and Palkia could be defeated after all.

As if that was not enough, Dialga soon found that he could not force the orb back down. He tried squeezing onto his neck and pushing down with his hands to no avail. He then tried to swallow as hard as he could, but the orb was truly stuck there. With that in mind, he knew he could no longer afford to mess around. If he did not kill Zeraora and Vaporeon soon, he could very well lose his voice forever.

As such, he took a deep breath and grunted, "Alright, Palkia, let's end this!" Palkia nodding and flying toward Zeraora. The cat attempted to dodge only to feel a sharp pain in his shoulders. This caused him to falter before Palkia latched onto those very spots and lifted him high into the air.

She once again turned her skin dark purple and flipped him upside-down, planting her pink claws into his ankles. She then wrapped her legs around his midsection and descended toward the canvas before Dialga leapt up to their level and planted his claws into Zeraora's cheeks, his aura once again surrounding him.

"You've been a major nuisance, but this ends here!" Dialga growled before he and Palkia shouted, "SPACIAL CLAW DRIVER!" ramming his skull hard into the canvas.

Zeraora coughed up more blood than ever before as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. Megumi tensed up and started to hyperventilate while panic spread through the crowd. And when the dragons released the cat and he passed out, he was no longer moving. He did not even so much as twitch.

Dialga rose to his feet and glared down at Zeraora while Palkia enquired, "Do you think that did it?" When the blue dragon sent a hard kick into Zeraora's side and caused him to roll out of the ring, he noticed no response and replied, "Indeed. I'd say he's done for."

Megumi could no longer keep quiet, therefor she cried, "NO!" and ran through the bleachers all the way to the side of the ring. The dragons watched this with their arms folded as she knelt down over Zeraora and whimpered, "Come on, Zeraora, speak to me! You're okay, right!? That was just a scratch!"

Raikou watched this on the TV before he took many deep breaths and growled, "Screw this! I know I won't make it in time, but I need to be in Tokyo as soon as possible!" before he bolted out the door and called his boss to let him know he would need some time off from work.

The others were equally concerned, so they all rose from the bleachers as well. Raboot pushed Scorbunny down a nearby ramp before they all gathered around Zeraora. And of course, Aipom could not help but feel a sense of dread when she watched this from the hospital. Sure, the cat was not her pupil. In fact, she barely knew him, yet she wanted to be there to support him regardless.

As if that was not enough, Gardevoir and Machoke could hear this on the TV in their room. Thus they started to move in their sleep. Unfortunately, they were still too weak to get up, but right now, they felt like they needed to be there.

Megumi breathed heavily as Dialga chuckled, "I'm sorry you had to see that, Miss, but that's what your son gets for thinking he could defeat us! I'm impressed he managed to slam us both like that, but this was inevitable!"

"Shut up!" the blonde woman retorted with a look of fury on her face, "I swear, if he's dead, I'll march into that ring right now and pry that ball thing out of your mouth! Then you won't be a threat to anyone anymore!"

The blue dragon gritted his teeth and retorted, "Alright, go on! I don't discriminate my victims! If a human wants to play hero, so be it!" Palkia looking a tad intimidated herself.

However, at that moment, a familiar voice growled, "That won't be necessary, Mrs. Rainyan!" everyone staring when Vaporeon slowly rose to her feet. She panted heavily while the dragons slowly turned to face her, Dialga's eye twitching as he pursed his lips furiously.

"Okay, this was funny before, but now it's just annoying!" he barked, "Come on, Palkia, let's finish her off, too!" the purple dragon nodding before she picked him up by his shoulders and flew him toward Vaporeon. He held his claws out as his blue aura formed once again and barked, "METAL DRAGON LANCE!"

At that moment, Vaporeon tensed up and thought, 'Can I really do this on my own?' when suddenly, she could see Gardevoir's spirit appear in the crowd. As it so happened, this was due to a technique her aunt taught her years ago that involved her telepathically sending herself to another location so she could support her friends.

The blue fox stared in shocked as the white woman smiled sweetly and said, "Come on, Vaporeon, you're so close. Don't give up faith now. I know you can do it."

With that in mind, there was no way Vaporeon would lose, not after everything she and Zeraora had done. As such, she watched the dragons closely and covered the tip of her tail in ice. Then when they got close enough, she leapt high into the air only for Palkia to fly up after her.

"Did you seriously think we'd be that careless!?" she quipped only for Vaporeon to smirk and retort, "Nope. I've been tricked by you two enough times in this fight," spinning vertically behind the purple dragon. At first, no one could figure out why she would not aim for Palkia's skull, but all became clear when she squealed, "FRIGID BUZZ SAW!" ramming her ice up against the purple dragon's wings.

As if her tactic was not shocking enough, Palkia gasped in horror when said wings detached from her. A small bit of blood squirted out of her shoulders before she cried out in agonizing pain, Vaporeon quickly flipping her upside-down and wrapping her arms, legs and tail around her.

"FROZEN TOMBSTONE!" she cried before she rammed Palkia's skull into the canvas. Just as Shaymin had said, it seemed the loss of her wings really had weakened the purple dragon significantly when she coughed up a great deal of blood and her flesh came open.

Dialga stared in horror as his partner closed her eyes, Vaporeon releasing her hold and allowing her to collapse. The blue dragon's eye twitched while he gritted his teeth and growled, "No! Hell no! There is no way in Hell that you of all people will ruin our master plan!"

With that in mind, he leapt backward into the ropes, bounced off and spun toward Vaporeon with his claws pointed outward, barking, "METAL DRAGON DRILL!" Luckily, the blue fox hoped he would do that, thus she leapt into the air and formed her ice ball once more, pointing it downward like before.

The crowd watched in awe when she fell toward Dialga and shouted, "FALLING ICESTEROID!" When the ball landed against the bottom of his neck, her let out a loud gasp before a blue orb flew out of his mouth.

The stadium erupted with cheers and applause from the crowd, an open-mouth smile on Shaymin's face as she let down tears and sniffed, "Oh my god, that was beautiful!" Melmetal patting her on the back.

"Way to go, honey!" Scorbunny squealed, "I knew you could do it!" Gallade and Blaziken beyond impressed. This one hero had accomplished what Machoke and Gardevoir failed to do.

Unfortunately, though, it was not over yet, and it showed when Dialga planted his hands against the canvas and pushed himself up. He glared at Vaporeon and opened his mouth to yell at her only a light wheeze to leave his mouth. His eyes went wide as he felt his neck. And when he looked backward and saw the orb on the edge of the mat, he frowned and raced toward it.

Luckily, Melmetal immediately reached out, formed fingers on his hand and grabbed it. He then handed it over to Shaymin and said, "It's not against the rules if I didn't enter the ring, right?" the cyborg already having done the same with Palkia's wings.

Beedrill nodded and exclaimed, "It would seem that Dialga has lost his voice! That means most of his power has left him! There's no doubt this match is as good as over, folks!"

Dialga panted heavily until Palkia placed her hands against the mat and pushed herself up. Everyone stared in shock while she grunted, "Don't you dare give up, Dialga!" the blue dragon staring at her, "We haven't lost yet! Just because we don't have our items doesn't mean we can't win! Think about it! After all the damage we dealt earlier, it's a miracle that Vaporeon can stand right now! One good hit, even at a fraction of our strength, should be more than enough to end this, then we'll get our stuff back and rule this godforsaken planet!"

The blue dragon had to admit, he really was impressed right now. All this time, he had been the one to give Palkia advice and motivation, and yet here she was doing just that. With that in mind, he nodded and ran to her side.

"Do you think Palkia might have a point?" Drizzile uttered, "She's kinda right. Vaporeon has suffered a lot of damage throughout this match," Shaymin sighing, "Well, it is definitely possible. It's not as if those two are completely helpless without their full power. After all, Palkia was able to cut open a door even without her wings."

Sure enough, the purple dragon was still able to turn her body a darker shade and turn her claws pink, thus Vaporeon could tell she would need to be careful. Dialga no longer had his blue aura, but it was not as if he was weak either.

With that in mind, both dragons dashed toward Vaporeon and split up. The blue fox tried her hardest to follow both of them only for Dialga to leap over her head and send a kick into the back of her head. And while this did not hurt nearly as much as it had before, it still dealt a decent amount of pain before Palkia sent her claws downward across her chest and shouted, "SPACIAL REND!"

But even though blood flew out, after everything she had been through, Vaporeon was able to ignore it. Therefor, she smirked and thought, 'Guess Rillaboom's tactic will definitely work now,' before she grabbed hold of Palkia's wrist and tossed her backward into Dialga.

Both dragons winced in pain before Vaporeon leapt toward them and wrapped her tail around their necks. She once again formed her ice ball and grunted, "This has gone on long enough! Your rein of terror ends here!"

She pushed downward and forced the dragons into a crouching formation. Then when she was low enough, she boosted herself high into the air like a spring and spread out her arms. She then flipped vertically until the dragons' faces were aimed toward the canvas, all going silent among the crowd.

"ALASKAN TRAMPOLINE SEAL DIVE!" Vaporeon exclaimed, the Time Space Squad in full panic before they collided with the mat. Blood trickled from their nostrils and their eyelids slowly closed. When Vaporeon released her hold on them, they both collapsed.

Nori started the ten count as Beedrill exclaimed, "It's been one close call after the next, but Vaporeon has pulled off a truly incredible feat! This new move of hers has taken a serious toll on the Time Space Squad! But will it truly be enough to end the match!?"

Once Nori reached five seconds, everyone in the crowd along with Vaporeon's friends started to count along with her. And sure enough, ten seconds passed, thus the black-haired woman rang the bell and shouted, "After one of the most intense matches in history, Dialga and Palkia have been defeated! Therefor, the new champions of the Ultimate World Team Tournament are the Atlantic Catfish!"

After a few seconds, the area erupted with heavy cheers and applause. Vaporeon's friends all beamed bright, Megumi letting down tears and thinking, 'Thank you, Vaporeon.'

All the while, Machoke and Gardevoir suddenly managed to wake up. As soon as they looked at the screen and saw the blue fox standing tall and proud while the dragons lay unconscious, they knew exactly what had happened. Therefor, they smiled at one-another, glad that their efforts had not been entirely in vain.

Vaporeon made her way over to the side of the ring and slipped under the ropes. After all she had done, she did not have the energy to leap over it. Scorbunny smiled at her before the two shared a big hug, everyone soon joining in.

"I am so proud of you, Vaporeon," Jolteon said in a surprisingly calm voice, "To think someone as amazing as you is my great, great granddaughter," her eyelids sagging until she pulled a coffee cup seemingly out of nowhere and chugged it.

Leafeon grinned nervously and chuckled, "You know, the funny thing is, Mommy already kinda knew who you were. It took me a while to figure it out myself, but yeah, I'm so glad that you're my great granddaughter. I couldn't have asked for better."

Vaporeon let down a light tear before Rillaboom grinned and said, "Seriously, that was sweet," Drizzile adding, "Yeah, I certainly wouldn't expect less of Edmonton's first hero."

"Three cheers for Vaporeon!" Morgrem squealed before the others nodded and shouted, "Hip-hip-hooray!" three times.

After a few seconds, the blue fox gasped then turned to Megumi before she enquired, "Hey, how is Zeraora, anyway? He wasn't, um, you know, was he?"

Before the blonde woman could answer, everyone stared at Zeraora when he let out a light cough and slowly opened his eyes halfway. He then blinked and uttered, "What happened? Did we win?" When his eyes opened all the way and he could see Vaporeon nodding at him, he beamed bright and sighed, "Oh, thank goodness. My efforts were worth it in the end."

Megumi nodded and squealed, "Yes, they were! You were amazing, son!" nuzzling her face up against his while he waved his arms around and struggled to breathe.

Needless to say, things had truly turned out for the best. Now all the heroes had to do was figure out what to do with Palkia and Dialga and return home.


	39. Chapter 39

The Ultimate World Team Tournament had been long and hard, but in the end, almost everything had been resolved. Dialga and Palkia were defeated and Vaporeon and Zeraora were the new champions. And to make matters even better, those who had been unconscious before were now wide awake.

But even so, not everything had been dealt with. This was made clear when Shaymin groaned, "Wait, guys, this is all well and good, but you all seem to have forgotten something very important. Everyone here knows that we're from the future and all of these fights have been recorder for the whole world to see! People in our time will know about us and our exploits, thus resulting in massive changes, and they might not be for the better!"

"Relax, Miss Future Chairwoman," Beedrill replied reassuringly before she turned to him and blushed lightly. To hear him call her that was strangely flattering, though she was not entirely sure why.

Butterfree explained, "Look, personally, I don't really see how any of today's events could negatively effect the future, but in the off chance that it does, we'll make sure future generations never find out that you came to this time and partook in this tournament."

"Wait, what!?" Gallade retorted, "You're not gonna delete all the tournament footage, are you!? Come on, I actually won a couple of matches!" Hitmonchan rubbing his shoulders and cooing, "Well, we'll remember that."

"Don't worry," Beedrill said with a light chuckle, "Even though that is the easier step, we wouldn't dare pretend this tournament never happened," turning to Shaymin and adding, "We'll just alter your appearances and give you different names. That way, the world can still see your fights but they won't know it's really you partaking in them."

Shaymin tapped her chin, nodded her head and replied, "Yeah, that could work." She then bowed her head and added, "But seriously, thank you for being so understanding. You have no idea how much this has been eating away at me."

Beedrill and Butterfree both nodded before they extended their arms. Thus Shaymin took hold of their hands and shook them with a big grin on her face.

"Well, that's all well and good, but what are we gonna do about, you know, them?" Melmetal uttered, pointing at Dialga and Palkia. Vaporeon and the others stared at them as they could not help but wonder the same thing.

Shaymin nodded and said, "I've thought quite a bit about that, and I've come up with the perfect solution." She then turned to face Beedrill and explained, "If it's alright with you, I figured the best course of action would be to have you guys lock them up in your prison. Meanwhile, we'll bring the voice orb and wings back with us. That way, even if those two somehow manage to escape prison, they'll never be able to get their parts back because, well, they officially won't exist until eighty one years later."

The wasp nodded and replied, "Yeah, I was thinking that too. I gotta say, you make for a good chairperson," the hedgehog giggling from embarrassment.

The others smiled before Blaziken said, "I guess now that all of that's settled, that means you'll all be leaving soon, right?" Shaymin nodding and replying, "Yep, the sooner, the better. Joining the tournament in the first place was risky enough, but if we stay here any longer, who knows what'll happen?"

At that moment, the others stared blankly at her before they turned to face the heroes of the past. While it made sense, most of them did not want to go just yet. At the very least, they had hoped to stick around for one last celebration, perhaps wait and see if Aipom, Machoke and Gardevoir would be there to give them a proper goodbye. But at the end of the day, this made sense.

With that in mind, Drizzile took a deep breath, turned to face Gallade and held out his hand with a smile. The green man returned the gesture and shook the part in question before he held the chameleon close, patted him on the back and said, "It was awesome meeting you. You were the second-best teammate I could have ever asked for."

"The first being me, right?" Hitmonchan asked with a smirk before Gallade nodded and replied, "But of course, dear," both chuckling before the boxer patted Drizzile on the shoulder and whispered, "But seriously, thanks for giving him that much-needed confidence boost. Ever since we lost to Vespiquen, he's been coming up with all sorts of insulting nicknames for himself."

Drizzile nodded with a stunned look on his face. While he always knew of Gallade's shoddy reputation, he did not think it had been that bad. Now he was especially glad to have had this chance to fight alongside the green man.

Scorbunny and Blaziken pounded their fists together with big grins on their faces. The chicken then patted the rabbit on the head and said, "I know the future is definitely in good hands with awesome heroes like you in it."

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I've been told I'm pretty damn good," the female rabbit giggled before the chicken patted Vaporeon on the shoulder and added, "Good job saving the world. That was pretty amazing to say the least."

Vaporeon blushed lightly before Raboot took hold of her hands, looked deep into her eyes and said, "You take care of my great granddaughter, alright?" the blue fox chuckling, "Honestly, she's been the one taking care of me up until now, but I'll do my best."

The male rabbit nodded and replied, "Well, as long as your best is anything like what I saw today, I feel content," Leafeon and Jolteon giving her a big hug.

"It was so nice to meet you!" Leafeon squealed, "I wish you could have been my daughter or granddaughter instead of my great granddaughter, then I could look forward to meeting you again!" Vaporeon chuckling as Jolteon exclaimed, "I know, right!? Like, seriously, how awesome would that be to meet her now then meet her again as a baby and see her become a super kickass teenager!? I swear, if I was alive in your time, I'd spoil the hell out of you!"

Vaporeon laughed some more before Leafeon sighed, "But, really, even though my daughter will never know who you really are, I'll never forget meeting you," before grumbling, "Though I wish I could forget about the fact that my granddaughter apparently marries a circus clown."

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Vaporeon chuckled, "But yeah, I never would have dreamt of meeting the two of you in person. You're just as wonderful as Grandma made you sound," making sure not to reveal that her grandmother's name was Flareon. If she did, Leafeon would have felt obligated to call her that, and Vaporeon did not wish to put that kind of pressure on her.

Of course, after that, she turned toward Zeraora, who had recovered enough to be able to sit on a nearby bench. She walked over to him and held him in a tight embrace before squealing, "I'm gonna miss you so much!" the cat patting her on the back and replying, "I know the feeling. I kinda wanna go with you to your time, but I know I shouldn't."

Megumi bit her lower lip and actually considered letting him go, but she also realized such a drastic decision could effect the future. With that in mind, she simply nodded and rested a hand against Vaporeon's shoulder, saying, "Thank you so much for everything you've done. My son has always been a tad insecure, and leaving him by himself, well, I don't think it helped as much as we had hoped it would. You've done so much more than you probably realize."

Morgrem, all the while, shook the hands of each and every legendary hero present and squealed, "It was so awesome meeting all of you! I can't believe I get to shake hands with the great Blaziken and Gallade and Hitmonchan and, well, you get the point."

Rolycoly nodded and sighed, "It's just a shame so much of our time here was spent in the hospital. I would have loved to have hung out with you guys for a little bit," Blaziken nodding and replying, "Well, we got this nice little moment, at least."

Rillaboom looked down and said, "I wish Aipom was here, too. It was such an honour to team up with her," Melmetal looking at Shaymin and sighing, "Surely we can at least let them go to the hospital for a few minutes before we leave, right?"

The hedgehog bit her lower lip and sighed, "Alright, you guys win. But you only get five minutes after we get there, alright?" all of them turning to her with big smiles on their faces.

Lucario got up from his seat and decided to join them along with Clauncher, Amanda and Veronica. After all, he only had a little bit more time to spend in Tokyo before he headed back to London and he wished to take full advantage of this chance to at least check up on Machoke.

Thankfully, all three of the previously injured heroes were already up, though only Aipom was perfectly fine. Machoke and Gardevoir still had a few bandages on them and needed help standing up. But nevertheless, they were beyond thrilled to see their friends there.

The reptilian man and the white woman approached Vaporeon and Zeraora and exclaimed, "You two are amazing! That was so cool! The way you hit them with your tails, and then slamming them both with that finishing move and taking off Palkia's wings and knocking out Dialga's orb thing!"

The blue fox and cat were both extremely overwhelmed by this, Megumi surprised to hear her own son receive praise like this from two legendary heroes. Aipom, all the while, chuckled, approached the blonde woman and said, "Look at that. Your son's got a couple of big time celebrities as fans. You must be so proud."

Megumi turned to face the monkey and chuckled, "I'm proud of him for far more than that," Rillaboom approaching Aipom and saying, "Hey, just wanted to tell you it was an honour fighting alongside you."

The monkey had a wide grin on her face as she held up her tail hand and squealed, "Likewise!" shaking the gorilla's hand. Like the others, she knew she would never get to see her partner again, but she would always remember her. After all, one could not just forget such an amazing ally.

After Machoke and Gardevoir talked more with Vaporeon, the reptilian suggested, "Hey, Zeraora, if evil ever threatens Tokyo again, we'd be glad to accept you as an ally."

The cat's eyes widened and his jaw dropped, Megumi nodding and saying, "Well, son, you're free to do as you please. I'm sure your father would definitely approve. Granted, you would have to drop out of school, but-"

"Oh, yeah," Zeraora uttered with a sigh, "I still have the rest of this year until I graduate. I'd hate to waste all that hard work." A smile then formed on his face before he added, "But once I'm done with that, I'll at least be sure to keep up my training. Heroism could be like a second job for me, eh?"

Megumi beamed bright as Machoke and Gardevoir smiled at one-another. The couple then noticed Lucario and invited him to join in on the conversation. And of course, Vaporeon was more than happy to officially meet the dog in person.

Needless to say, Zeraora could not have been happier. Thanks to Vaporeon, he had gone from having almost no direction in his life to knowing exactly what he wanted. On top of that, he also had respect and friends. This was the life he always dreamt of.

By this point, Shaymin's five minute time limit had already passed, but when she saw how happy everyone was, she decided to let them talk for a little longer. After all, she would hate to be dragged away from a nice moment like this herself.

And so, she allowed a whole hour to pass, Melmetal finishing a long conversation with Gallade and Hitmonchan about his fight with Drizzile. He then took a seat next to the hedgehog and said, "You're a really nice person, you know that?" Shaymin giggling, "What, you didn't think I was before?"

"Well, to be fair, you did put us through a lot of sadistic events in the Hero Olympics," the cyborg remarked before she chuckled nervously.

However, just as everyone was finally ready to leave, Raikou dashed into the area and gasped, "Someone told me my son and wife were here! Is that true!?" Megumi and Zeraora staring silently. However, the blonde woman broke the silence and chuckled, "I'm impressed. You must have run all the way here."

Aipom's jaw dropped before she looked at Zeraora and uttered, "Your father is Raikou," pointing at the tiger, "THE Raikou! No wonder you're so strong!" the cat turning toward his father and saying, "You didn't tell me you were famous."

The tiger blinked before he and the others shared a good laugh. Shaymin decided to just let everyone talk on the way back to the ship, and Raikou was really happy to meet the one who shaped his son into the fighter he was now. Despite his intimidating appearance, he was very friendly and approachable.

Soon enough, everyone was gathered in front of Shaymin's ship. She entered the cockpit before saying, "Alright, you all get a minute to say your final goodbyes. I'm not changing my mind this time," as the others tensed up and turned toward their new friends.

The heroes of Edmonton gave one last goodbye to everyone else and made sure to get in a hug. Vaporeon held Zeraora just a little bit longer before she headed back to the ship to join the others. With all said and done, Shaymin put in the time period they had left and squealed, "Strap in tight, everyone! We're in a wild ride!"

And so, the ship floated up into the sky before a bright light surrounded it. And soon enough, it vanished from sight, Zeraora releasing a light tear with a big smile on his face. Even though he would never see Vaporeon again, he could not have asked for a better friend.

After a while, the ship arrived in Edmonton. Shaymin looked at the time and uttered, "Oh, I was shooting for the exact day and hour that we left, but it sent us two and a half weeks ahead," before she tapped her chin, shrugged and said, "That's probably for the best, anyway."

And so, the door to the ship opened up and the heroes emerged. And since they were in a public place, news crews showed up within minutes to question them about their trip. Of course, they mostly wanted to know if the heroes succeeded to which Shaymin reassured them by showing them Palkia's wings and Dialga's voice, both sealed in strong glass containers.

Grimmsnarl and Samurott arrived to welcome the heroes back, the green goblin giving Morgrem a big hug. He could not wait to hear about her experiences in the past, though he was genuinely shocked when she revealed that she could now use her fingers like blades.

Geneva and Bailey soon arrived, a big smile on Rolycoly's face when he rolled toward the redhead and leapt into her arms. Both shared a long kiss while Geneva twirled in placed, Bailey cupping her hands together with the biggest grin she had ever given.

Drizzile's eyes lit up when he saw Allie, the two sharing an embrace of their own. As exciting as everything had been, he had missed her so much during that time. But most of all, he was beyond grateful that he and the tall woman could actually have their marriage in the end. After all, the more days Dialga and Palkia remained in the tournament, the less likely it seemed.

Of course, those who had not gone with the heroes were shocked to see Scorbunny in a wheelchair. She explained how it was a result of an electric shock and that she would be good as new soon enough. In fact, if what the doctors told her was correct, she would be back on her feet the following day.

With all said and done, Melmetal implied a smile with his eye and gave everyone a light wave before he started to walk toward the airport, Shaymin ready to head back to Hero Planet. But before both were completely out of sight, Vaporeon held out her arm and invited them to join them for a celebratory dinner. After all, they had missed out on such a chance in the past, so this seemed perfect.

While Melmetal accepted the offer without hesitation, Shaymin was not so sure. But even so, she knew no one could possibly steal Palkia and Dialga's parts in this time line and benefit from it, so she figured she may as well join in. After all, she rarely ever had opportunities like this, what with her having so much responsibility.

And so, the group headed to a French restaurant called The Marc and booked the biggest table available. While they chatted, Allie and the others were certainly surprised by the many things they heard. Not only were they fascinated to hear that Scorbunny, Drizzile and Rillaboom had all gotten to team up with their own idols from that generation, but to hear that Vaporeon had won with the help of a complete newbie was beyond incredible.

"Well, cheers to Edmonton's little champion!" Geneva exclaimed before the others nodded and held up their glasses. Vaporeon chuckled lightly and uttered, "Really, guys, you don't have to make a huge deal out of it."

"Yeah, but you've truly earned it," Drizzile replied with a big smile, Scorbunny nodding and giving the fox a peck on the cheek. Everyone stared in stunned silence until the rabbit sighed, "Yeah, yeah, we're a thing now. Admit it, you all knew it was gonna happen eventually, didn't you?"

Bailey blinked and uttered, "I'd be lying if I said I didn't see a few signs here and there," the others shrugging their shoulders.

Either way, everyone gladly supported their relationship and shared another toast to them. And after that, they continued their conversation, talking about many more things that happened in the past. Such subjects included Melmetal using Shaymin's thorns to get the drop on Dialga and Palkia and Drizzile helping Gallade win two matches, and of course, there were many other things. The human women would certainly look for the fight footage later, knowing full well that their names and appearances would be different.

Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, Vaporeon pulled out her phone and looked up her family tree just to make sure of this. As she suspected, a blue fox similar to her but with tribal markings on her cheeks named 'Showereon' had been added to it. As soon as she saw this, she frowned and grumbled, "Couldn't they have at least come up with something creative?"

Scorbunny leaned over and chuckled, "It's not like 'Flarerabbit' is that much better," Rillaboom sighing, "You think that's bad? Apparently, my name is 'Gorillaboom'. Were they even trying with that one?"

"Wow, I must be really lucky," Drizzile stated, "They called me Jimereon. That's way cooler than Drizzile," only for Allie to kiss him on the cheek and squeal, "I think Drizzile's good enough."

"What did they call us?" Morgrem enquired, Vaporeon looking up her and Rolycoly's families and saying, "Diabla and Tandon," the goblin and golem looking at one-another with sparkling eyes.

"Wow, Tandon," Geneva chuckled before she stroked her chin, "It has a nice ring to it," Rolycoly sporting a heroic look and stating, "Yeah, Tandon the Destroyer! I like it!"

Shaymin smiled sweetly at the group and sighed, "To think we're able to have this conversation right now. Seriously, thank you all so much for your efforts," Melmetal nodding. The others gave the hedgehog smiles of their own, all of them in full agreement. It truly felt like a miracle that they were seated around the table talking to each other right now.

After another half-hour, the group finished their dinner as Shaymin paid for everyone. With everything that had happened, she felt beyond generous, and it also helped that she was the wealthiest out of all of them. The others felt a touch guilty about this, but she assured them all that this was perfectly fine.

With all said and done, everyone was ready to head home. Shaymin and returned to her time travelling ship so she could fly back to Hero Planet with the wings and orb while Melmetal decided to move back to Russia and fight evil there.

The heroes of Edmonton and their human friends saw them off before Drizzile volunteered to walk Allie to her house. She, of course, offered to let him stay the night with her to which he happily agreed, Rolycoly and Geneva headed to the redhead's place for a similar reason.

Rillaboom was ready to walk home with Scorbunny and Vaporeon only for the couple to tell her to go on ahead. They wanted to enjoy the night sky as a couple and they figured the gorilla would rather get some sleep as soon as possible. Needless to say, she was grateful for that, so she sped off after Vaporeon handed her a key to the house.

Vaporeon smiled sweetly and pushed Scorbunny along the sidewalk in her chair. The rabbit breathed in the fresh air, looked up at the stars and sighed, "Did you ever imagine life would turn out like this?"

"No," the fox replied, "I didn't think it would be anywhere near this good." She then let out a sigh and added, "I really am so happy I got to meet all of you. I've said it before and it's worth repeating. You guys have given my life so much more meaning."

"I'm really happy to hear that," Scorbunny giggled, "Because I feel the same." But as she tilted her head back and puckered her lips for a kiss, Vaporeon stared silently at a short lynx standing before her.

This lynx in question had light blue fur on the upper half of her body and black fur on the lower half. She had big oval ears with yellow stars in the middle and matching eyes. She also had a star on the tip of her tail. And with a black marking that resembled a bow tie, her lower half looked more like a pair of pants as opposed to her actual fur. Finally, she had a yellow ring around each wrist.

"Um, hi there," Vaporeon said with a light smile, "Can we help you?" the lynx's eyes sparkling as she pointed at the fox and rabbit and gasped, "Oh my god! I recognize you!"

Scorbunny smiled and replied, "Well, looks we got us a fangirl here," the lynx nodding and squealing, "Yeah! My great grandpa has told me so much about you, Vaporeon! And he talks about you too, Scorbunny! He says you're the coolest people he knows!"

"Wow, someone that old is a fan of ours," Scorbunny uttered with her cheeks flushed pink, the lynx asking, "I know you're probably really busy, but could you maybe come and visit him? He doesn't have much longer to live and I know he'd really like to see you."

Vaporeon and Scorbunny both looked at one-another. Sure, this was an odd request, not to mention it was very late and the fox was tired after her match. But even so, there was no way they could refuse a request like this. Besides, meeting a fan who was likely over the age of one hundred seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

And so, they followed the lynx all the way to her house before she said, "He's been staying in our basement lately. Says he's sick of the retirement home," and opened the door. A lion with blue and black fur was in the midst of watching TV when the lynx called, "Dad, I'm home!"

The lion could hear Vaporeon enter before he growled, "Hey, what have I told you about bringing guests home without calling first!?" He then marched toward the entrance before he gasped at the sight of the fox and rabbit.

"Oh, sorry to intrude," Scorbunny said with a sweet smile, "Your daughter insisted we see your grandfather," the lion nodding and replying, "Oh, of course. He'd love to see you right now."

He then cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, the name's Luxray, and my little girl here is Shinx. It's an honour to have you here right now."

Vaporeon and Scorbunny both smiled sweetly as he and Shinx led them to the staircase leading to the basement. Luxray and the fox both combined their efforts to safely carry Scorbunny down the stairs before they reached the bottom. And once they did so, Vaporeon and Scorbunny gazed upon the one they were there to see.

He was an old cat with white fur covering his chest area, forearms, lower body, skull and tail. The rest of his fur was grey. But what stood out to Vaporeon and Scorbunny the most was that his whiskers were shaped lightning bolts. This alone gave them a good idea of who they were face-to-face with.

"Oh my god," Scorbunny uttered as Vaporeon inched closer to an easy chair he was seated in. The cat stared at them before the fox bit her lower lip and reached forward, uttering, "Is that you, Zeraora?"

The cat squinted his eyes for a few seconds before a light gasp escaped from his mouth. A warm smile formed on his face before he lifted up his arm and rested his paw up against Vaporeon's cheek. Tears rolled down his own as he sniffed, "I have to admit, I truly believed I would never see you again."

"Yeah," Vaporeon replied with tears of her own, "This all feels like a dream. And to think we only just came back from your time," Scorbunny uttering, "How are you still alive?"

"Well, I've kept up a very healthy lifestyle since you left," Zeraora explained, "Even though I thought it pointless, I felt this strange need to stay alive for as long as possible just so I could see all of your accomplishments myself. I may not have had the strength to do it in person, but I was able to catch every single one of your matches on TV. And that goes for the others as well."

"Oh, wow," Scorbunny uttered, "I feel so flattered right now," before Vaporeon reached over and gave Zeraora a light hug. She made sure not to be too rough since she imagined his body must have been really weak by now.

All he could do in response was return the gesture and chuckle, "Ah yes, holding back against a friend. I never forgot that," before he and Vaporeon shared a good laugh. And all the while, Luxray and Shinx looked at this in wonder, the lion uttering, "I gotta hand it to you, Shinx, you made the right call."

He then sighed, "If only your mom didn't have to work the night shift. I think she would have loved to have seen this," Shinx holding out a cell phone and saying, "Don't worry, Dad. I'm recording it."

"That's my girl," the lion chuckled as he ruffled the fur atop her head, Scorbunny and Vaporeon more than happy to hear about Zeraora's life up to this point. He told them how he married a nice young woman named Mina and had a daughter named Luxio. Although he also mentioned how she used to be a bully before Sneasel and Gigalith taught her a lesson.

He also went on to talk about how he spent his life with a perfect winning streak. As it so happened, he had faced a total of five villains after the Ultimate World Team Tournament ended and bested all of them. Needless to say, Scorbunny and Vaporeon could not have been more proud.

After an hour, Zeraora noticed how late it was and figured he may as well let Vaporeon and Scorbunny return home. Both promised to pay him a visit each and every day that he remained in the world, and that was all he could ever ask.

For the next four years, many things happened. Drizzile and Allie's wedding was as perfect as could be, and it was not long until both agreed to move out of Edmonton and live in Ireland. They even found a really nice place not too far from where Drizzile's mother, Inteleon, lived.

Rolycoly and Geneva got married the following year, though they decided to stay in Edmonton. After all, the golem had nothing left for him in Rome, so this just made sense. And as for Vaporeon and Scorbunny, they decided to move to England as common-law partners. Since Zeraora passed away a year after they reunited with him, they were no longer able to pay him daily visits anyway.

Rillaboom went back to Kenya and met a nice young man named Ayo. Together, they started their own research lab to study plant life. And while the gorilla had spent years well versed in combat, she found Scientific discoveries to be just as fascinating.

Morgrem moved back to Transylvania and met someone of her own, a purple ghost with a broken teapot lid atop his head named Polteageist. Sure, he was an odd specimen, to say the least, but so was the red goblin, so it worked out fine in the end.

And of course, many others found their own mates and started families as well. Grimmsnarl and Yanma eventually hooked up with Samurott volunteering to be the best man at their wedding. Ben and Rapidight confessed their feeling for each other and eventually settled down as well back in Texas.

Corviknight had met a young woman named Samantha and proposed to her a mere month after they met. Needless to say, many were surprised by just how well that worked out considering how unconventional it was.

Melmetal settled down with a woman named Vera. Although it did not happen particularly quickly. Despite how much he had redeemed himself, he was not entirely sure if he deserved to get married, but in the end, Vera convinced him that he was more than good enough for her.

Scorbunny and Vaporeon opened up their own restaurant, and thanks to their high status, they were able to become a major success very quickly. Even with the long hours, they could not have been happier.

While Drizzile used to long for a simple office job, ever since he became a true hero, his sights had changed. Thus he went on to become a stuntman, dazzling the world with many dangerous feats.

Rolycoly and Geneva eventually published their own novel with all illustrations created by the golem. The royalty checks alone certainly helped them make a good living, and it was also thanks to their success that Rolycoly became much more popular in the art world. Now he had moved from commissions to being hired to illustrate multiple works.

Morgrem and Polteageist simply took on the ghost's family business, which was, as expected, running a tea shop. It was a simple business, but it was all they really needed to be happy.

And for the years to come, things only got better and better. It had been a difficult journey toward such happy lives, but the protectors of Earth had certainly earned them.

The end.

Note: I said this for the last one and I'll say it again. To those of you who have been following this story since the beginning, either of this particular entry or, god, even the very first Earth's Protectors, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You can see how passionate I've been about this series over the years, so much so that I really couldn't let the main series end. Sure, I made a couple of spinoffs (Essentially the idea is that they're supposed to be presented as 'movies' in story form, but yeah) but I did say at the end of Earth's Protectors III that would be the last one. And as I mentioned in the description for part 1 of this instalment, I changed my mind.

I know this isn't the most professionally written thing ever. I know it's not exactly the most original idea ever. It's basically just a fusion of Kinnikuman and Pokemon. Heck half the story lines in the first one took huge inspiration from Nisei. I went out of my way to make them their own thing, as some commenters have noticed and acknowledged, which I greatly appreciate. Some things I even tried to improve, like how Lucario was essentially meant to be a more well developed version of Kevin Mask.

I also know I'll never make a living off of this. (You'll never believe it from how frequently I put these chapters out, but I do have a real job and even hang out with friends from time to time) But I simply love working on this series and whether it gets a lot of attention or not, it makes me happy just working on it and sharing it with the world.

As I mentioned in part 1, the main reason I decided to make this instalment was because I had come up with so many ideas based off of Sword and Shield's starters. I already thought of making them all the main leads and putting more of the focus on them (In the first part, anyway) but I also thought about doing something vastly different with them, making them a villainous trio at first. In fact, I kinda went out of my way to make this one as different as I could from the others, though of course there were still a few traditions I simply couldn't give up.

I also did a few things differently when it came to writing this. Most notably, I actually wrote out the whole thing in advance and edited all of the chapters before posting them. Normally, what I do is I post the chapters after I finish writing them then replace said chapters with edited versions later. (In fact, if some of you go back and reread past instalments, you might notice a lot of differences when it comes to the grammar and other such things) I felt like this time, I really should just give you guys the final draft instead of the rough draft, which I really should have been doing from the start.

Why am I writing all of this? Because this time I can honestly say this really will be the last main instalment. I might make a spinoff or 'movie' again, but that's about it. And I am 100% sure that I won't change my mind again. (It's kinda why I went all-out with the new ideas, number of Pokemon used and even wrote the series' first ever title drop) The main reason I'm thinking of ending it here was because, well, I don't know why, but I had the most trouble writing this one. I had all these ideas in my head, but frequently, I'd lose sight of how I would build up to these moments. I've probably made more changes from my original vision for this instalment than any other. (Some of you might be interested to know that Zeraora was originally gonna die after taking in that blow that knocked him unconscious. This might just be the only instalment where no major character gets killed off)

But, yeah, thank you all so much for reading all of this. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it, or even almost as much. It's been a good ride, but it's time for it to come to an end for real.


End file.
